


The weird guy from upstairs

by HiddenFall



Category: Queer as Folk (US)
Genre: AU, Brian is weird, Humor, Justin and Brian are neighbors, M/M, Vampires, alternative universe, they don't get along at first
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-27
Updated: 2020-04-17
Packaged: 2020-05-28 04:41:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 26,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19386676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiddenFall/pseuds/HiddenFall
Summary: Justin moves into the red brick house with his boyfriend Ethan and the guy who lives upstairs is not just an asshole but also really weird.





	1. The armchair

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big thanks to Cathy (BritinManor) for helping me out in this one!! You're the best (:

[](https://imgbb.com/)

**The weird guy from upstairs**

**Chapter One**

Warm rays of the sun were kissing his skin as he arrived in front of the red brick house. A beautiful warm day, and he loved that summer was coming up, but today he wished it was cloudy and cool for a change. Another look at the trailer and he was already feeling his clothes sticking to him like a second skin with his face and body drenched in sweat. Justin was glad to finally be able to move out of Ethan’s stuffy, rundown apartment where the furniture consisted of boxes and wooden pallets. And most of the rest was from the junkyard and smelled like it, too. 

Maybe he was spoiled rotten from living in the home he was brought up in, but after his father had kicked him out after he had seen Ethan and him kissing in front of PIFA, moving in with Ethan had been a drastic change. After some weeks or better to say months, he’d gotten used to it, but now he could afford his own place thanks to the recent exposure in the gallery, he couldn’t get out of there fast enough. He’d never dreamed about being that successful at the tender age of twenty, but his depressing abstract art, which he had mainly drawn with his homophobic father at the back of his mind, was really popular. People who bought his work probably didn’t even understand it, not that they had to in order to get their hands on it. Money was money.

Justin breathed out and stared at the cloudless sky above him, the sun glaring at him. But it felt good. There was no use to put off the deed any longer. He had only taken a few things from Ethan’s place he wanted to keep like the dark oak nightstand he had found on the corner of the street which still looked like it was directly from the store, the old burgundy armchair Ethan was so obsessed with, but which he hated because the thing had to be older than him and it also looked like it was, then all the plants he tried to keep alive and was failing miserably at, and his half-finished paintings and his art supplies, which was a lot. On top of that there were bags full of all the little stuff, like combs and toothbrushes etc., and last but not least, not to forget all their clothes.

God, was he glad that the apartment included the furniture of the last person who rented it and apparently had no use for his old stuff anymore when he’d moved, otherwise he didn’t want to imagine how he could have managed to carry all by himself. 

At least his mother had arranged the move… Now he was here all alone and also the one responsible for carrying all the stuff up to his new home. Of course, Ethan had to go to a damn violin competition on the day of their move. Surely he had done it on purpose, even though he had assured him at least a thousand times that he hadn’t planned to be unable to help. Yeah, right. 

But he could sulk as much as he wanted to, the things were not going to carry themselves up.

So he started off with the bags, after that he carried up his plants and then he continued to haul up his paintings and the rest of his art supplies.

After running up and down to the second floor for over ten times, he could already feel the strain in his legs and arms, and he was sweating from head to toe. Fuck. And this was not even the heavy stuff yet. Sure, he achieved to carry up almost everything by now; only the armchair and the nightstand were left on the trailer. His luck they had an elevator in the building - but of course, the old, rusty thing was out of service when he needed it. (Not that he would have trusted the thing with the heavy stuff, for all he knew, the elevator looked like it might collapse any day, but still). Sometimes it really felt like the world was against him.

Therefore, he started with the lesser of two evils and carefully maneuvered the nightstand out of the trailer and with another deep breath and sweat running down his temples; he made his way to the stairs. On the stairs to the second floor, he nearly fell down backward but prevented the fall by letting go of the nightstand and steadying himself with both hands on the handrail. His heart hammered against his chest and his eyes shut themselves tightly as the thing crashed on the stairs with a deafening sound. But when he peeked at the disaster, he was surprised to see that the nightstand had survived the fall and was not in pieces. Geez. Hoping that there would be no more accidents and that his new neighbors wouldn’t come to see what the noise was all about, he picked the thing back up and hurried up the stairs. Well, as fast as you can go with something that big and heavy in your hands.

The exhaustion made its way through Justin’s body with the feeling of pride he had worked it out by himself. He regarded the armchair on the trailer skeptically as he looked back up at the building. There’s no way he could manage to fucking move this atrocity up the stairs, let alone lift it from the trailer. Justin licked the sweat from the top of his lips, saltiness filling his mouth. 

Maybe he could ask one of his new neighbors. He figured most people would help if you asked them, at least, that’s what he would do if he was on the other end. First, he knocked on the door of the first floor with the name "L. Brown" on it. He waited a few seconds before he tried again when there was nothing. Another minute later and he was sure there was nobody home, so all that left him with was the third floor. He threaded having to walk up there again, and even more stairs but he had no other choice. Ethan and his fucking dumb ugly chair and his stupid concert. When this day was over, he would make sure to remind his boyfriend of the fact he had to do everything by himself. Let him feel guilty, he deserved it. The fucking prick.

Without further ado he walked up the stairs unenthusiastically, dragging his body upstairs, his legs hurting with every step he took. 

Finally arriving at the second floor, he stood in front of a metal door which looked battered, but he was not here to criticize his neighbor’s door, no, he was here to ask for help.

So Justin knocked on the door twice since there didn’t seem to be a doorbell. There was nothing, but something seemed to draw him in and he pressed his ear to the cold metal, listening if there was any sound coming from the other side. The cool metal felt good against his heated skin. He stepped away feeling like a creep and not knowing why he had done it in the first place, so he turned around and took the first step down when the door creaked open behind him. Justin turned back around and saw that the door had opened a tiny bit and it was hard to see in the hallway with no natural light. He walked up to the door and only saw darkness through the small slit.

"Hello?" He called out, finding it a little strange that the person behind the door didn’t utter a word and was just standing there watching him silently. Justin didn't dare to open the door further though. Somehow, it felt like he was in one of those bad horror movies where a group got caught up in some horrifying stuff and one idiot then investigated the creepy noise or something, just to be murdered out of idiocy. And right now, he was the idiot but also a curious one and he needed some help with the armchair, so fuck it.

"What do you want?" Came an irritated, sleepy voice from the other side, scaring him for a second because he didn’t expect the outburst. 

Justin swallowed nervously, fidgeting with his hands nervously, and then he glanced to the side at the golden nameplate.

"Hi, my name is Justin Taylor and I’m moving to the second floor with my boyfriend so I’m your new neighbor, just a floor below yours, Mr. Kin… uh," Justin leaned closer to the plate the last letters were unreadable, his thumb was just following the lettering when he was scared a second time by the stranger’s deep voice.

"Kinney. As simple as that. And you still haven’t answered my damn question," the man sounded agitated now.

Justin tried his best to be friendly, and this guy had the nerve to bitch at him! And he didn’t even have the nerve to show his face; Instead, Justin felt like he was talking to a dumb door.

“Well, I need some help with the moving and since the person downstairs isn’t home, I figured maybe you’re here and could help. And here you are,” he said jokingly, but it fell to deaf ears when there was only silence. Did he already mess up? Not that this would turn out to be some war between neighbors like he had seen on TV.

"Listen, could you at least come out of the dark, so I could see you because it’s kind of freaking me out."

He heard an amused chuckle and then the door slid open wider, revealing that all the curtains and blinds were drawn shut, leaving his loft draped in darkness. He couldn’t see the man until he stepped out of the darkness and even in the dim light he was faced with a beautiful man with chestnut-brown hair and hazel eyes and luscious full lips drawn to a smile. And god, when he was stunned by that sight, he as even more stunned when he realized that the man in front of him was only dressed in some tight white Calvin Klein trunks which left absolutely nothing to the imagination.

His face heated up and for once he was glad that the lightning up here was not as good, so he could spare himself from further embarrassment. Now he was sweating for a different reason. Great. 

The man put his tongue in his cheek, his teeth showing in an appreciative grin and then he looked him up and down, and if Justin had any doubts about the man’s sexuality then they were gone in that instance. 

"So?" He fumbled around with the buttons on his dark blue shirt to avoid ogling the brunet.

"What time is it even? It seems way too early… so it has been you who was making all this goddamn noise down there." 

Justin frowned at the guy for avoiding his question, but he answered him anyway.

"It’s around four in the afternoon already…" Had this Kinney guy been sleeping? His hair was standing up in all directions, so it was probably the case.

"Way too early if you ask me. And to answer your question, no, I won’t help you move whatever you have left after all that fucking noise you’ve made before. Especially not since you’ve interrupted my beauty sleep and woke me up so rudely."

Justin was taken aback by him.

"But it’s afternoon already!"

"Exactly."

"But," he tried to control his fury at the attractive but upsetting man in front of him. "Mr. Kinney, I really do need your help and I’m really sorry for all the noise but there is just the armchair left and then I’ll be done and I won’t bother you anymore," he practically pleaded, trying his hardest to focus his eyes on the guy’s face and not the single hairs on the smooth, defined chest or his taut stomach or the happy trail to the enormous bulge covered in white, or the miles of fucking gorgeous tanned skin, and the long legs. As you might notice, all his efforts were fruitless, but who could judge him when such a fine specimen stood in front of him in half-naked glory. He knew he had Ethan but damn, he could still admire beauty when he saw it. It was the artist in him. That's at least what he liked to tell himself.

"I don’t care, blondie, find someone else. Not to mention that you should have your boyfriend at your side to help you out. I wonder what the fuck he’s up to?"

"My name is Justin, not blondie! And that’s not any of your fucking business."

Gone was his calm demeanor as he glared at the man, who looked like he was having a great time acting like an asshole.

"Now you finally show your true facade. See? It’s better than to act a certain way to achieve your goals but then fail at it miserably anyway," the other dragged a hand through his brown hair, staring down at him, taking in the sour expression on Justin’s face. "And for your interest, I’m Brian but I quite enjoy you calling me Mr. Kinney, so we’ll leave it at that," Justin frowned, his fists balling up at his sides, and really wanting to punch his pretty face for all the shit he was giving him. "What is it, blondie? Did I perhaps hit a nerve when I mentioned the absence of your boyfriend?"

Justin took a deep breath, the nickname irritating him even more. Had he known what an asshole lived up here, he wouldn’t have tried to ask him for a favor in the first place, but no one could know the unknown.

Suddenly he was confronted with Brian moving in closer. Brian caught him off guard. He didn’t try to get away when Brian buried his face in his neck and took a sniff of him. "God, you smell so fucking good," came the sultry voice and Justin emitted a moan and couldn’t help but feel aroused by the tone and Brian's body so close to his, the sheer heat. His pants felt tighter already. Lips moved against his skin and then these lips pressed down light kisses, his broad hands coming up to keep him in place and then he felt the wet tip of a tongue following the bow of his neck and that’s when he finally reacted and pushed the other away, to stop the onslaught.

He was panting, his arousal clear, and he stared at Brian with widened eyes and reddened cheeks, not believing what he had almost allowed happening. What had let Brian do to him! He had a boyfriend for fuck's sake and this asshole would not ruin this, no matter how drawn he felt to him, no matter how good the simplest touches felt… Shit. 

Brian looked at him with hooded eyes, his eyes black and his trunks obviously tented. He lips drew back in a smile, as he reached down to cup his own erection, stroking it over the white material, right in front of him! 

Justin caught himself staring, following the movement of Brian’s hand and licking his lips at the sight before he could finally get his brain to function, and he tore himself away from the mesmerizing view. He bolted down the stairs like a crazy person, tripping twice in the process. 

He could hear Brian’s laughter from above until he managed to put the key to his apartment in the lock, after he had missed the hole the first couple of times thanks to his trembling hands.

Once inside, he closed the door, blocking out the sounds successfully and then he slid down the door, trying to figure out what just happened. 

He pressed his hand against his crotch, a sigh leaving his lips as he remembered Brian’s body in every little detail. What was wrong with him?

After calming down, he stood up and walked to the bathroom. He was in a desperate need of a shower and a cold shower at that. 

Ethan’s armchair could rot outside, not that he cared. It was all because of that fucking piece of trash he had just lived through this embarrassing event. Fuck the armchair, fuck Ethan, but most of all, fuck the weirdo from upstairs. 

Hoping that this was the first and the last encounter with the guy, he closed his eyes to the cold water raining down his body.


	2. The fall

[ ](https://imgbb.com/)

**Chapter Two**

"Come on, Justin. I already told you at least a thousand times that I’m sorry!" Ethan shouted frustratedly, one hand sliding down his face as he stared at the blond, who wouldn’t look at him and had done so the past hour.

"I am really, please don’t be that way. I’ll make it up to you," then the blue eyes focused on him, the eyebrows still drawn together in a frown, destroying the angelic look Justin usually had. He still looked pissed.

"Yeah, you say that now. But let me remind you that the first thing you did after you came home was to complain about your stupid fucking armchair and why I haven’t carried it up yet. Even though you were the one who was not there yesterday and left me all by myself to move the things upwards without any help! So instead of asking how I’m doing, you’re more worried about that lousy piece of furniture."

Ethan then stepped in front of him and kneeled on the floor, putting his hand on his knee and squeezing it gently.

"I was just confused, I didn’t mean to upset you or to put down your work. I apologize for not being here to help. And you didn’t ask me how my concert went either, so I think we’re even."

Justin thought how Ethan almost managed to convince him until he mentioned his stupid concert, the reason he hadn’t been here in the first place. And gone was his empathy. It flew right out the window.

He pushed his hand away and glared at him, the coldness in his eyes making hell freeze over.

"I don’t fucking care about your stupid, dumb concert!" 

He screamed angrily and then he walked to their new bedroom with the king-sized bed in it and slammed the door shut, to make it clear that he didn’t want him to follow him. All he wanted was to be left alone. How can Ethan be such an egoist? He thought when the other would come back, he’d thank him for all his efforts and Justin trying to make their new apartment their new home. But no, he hadn’t. Ethan probably was still hung up on his old shitty apartment. 

He buried his face into the pillow and screamed out loud. That was not how he imagined their first day together. He thought they could have a relaxing evening, watching a movie or two but now he was too fed up with his boyfriend for even caring what the other did in the meantime. 

His mind wandered to the day before and the meeting with Brian. Biting his lip, he rolled on his back and stared at the white ceiling. He had actually planned on telling Ethan what had happened between him and the brunet. Get your shit together, Justin, nothing happened! But now he was thinking about just keeping quiet. There was no reason to tell his boyfriend how another man had tried to get cozy with him and then even went as far as stroking himself in front of him. Nope. Ethan was a very jealous man and he’d freak out and make a scene and then embarrass him even more. And his neighbor would just stand there and smile, enjoying the show, and then - because he was such a jerk - he’d actually act innocent and deny that anything had happened at all, and would point out that Justin had made up the whole thing since he was such a pathetic excuse of a gay man or something. Yes, that’s exactly how it’d play out. So no, he was not going to tell Ethan a word and it’s not like he was cheating or anything. Instead, he had fled at the first chance. (Maybe after he had enjoyed himself a bit).

Hours passed, he spent sketching his handsome, new acquaintance until there were knocks at the door, and he stopped the movement of his pencil over the paper.

He stared at the door like it’d magically open itself but he knew for a fact that Ethan would never disturb him when he was angry at him and wouldn’t come in unless he gave him his permission. In the last months, the number of arguments they had, had increased and they’d often fought about little, irrelevant things and then they stayed out of each other’s hair to calm down - until one (most of the time, Ethan, but let’s be real that’s because he knew he was right from the beginning), came and made the first step. That’s how it always went.

"Come in!" He called out as he sat up against the headboard and saw Ethan entering the room with some flowers he might have bought from a street corner or something. Justin had to admit at the beginning of their relationship, he had always liked getting flowers as a present or a way to mollify him but now they lost their appeal. He huffed and waited til Ethan came up to the bed, sitting down on the edge of the mattress, a bundle of red roses in his hand. 

"I bought them for you since I know how much you like flowers," Not that much, anymore, but fair enough. Ethan was trying at least. "And I wanted to apologize for being such an uncaring jerk."

Justin took the roses from him and took a sniff of them and then he resigned himself to smile and give Ethan a quick kiss to the cheek.

"Thanks, and it’s fine, as long as you don’t make the same mistake again," Ethan smiled and was about to lean in for a kiss on the lips when Justin decided to use this moment to fake a yawn. It’s not like he didn’t like to kiss him or anything, he was just not in the mood and still upset.

Ethan gave him a faint smile and then he looked at Justin’s left and saw his closed sketchbook laying on the bed suspiciously. 

"You drew something new? Let me see it," He reached for the sketchbook but Justin stopped him before he was able to grab it. 

"No, don’t bother. It’s just a very unflattering sketch I’ve drawn, nothing special and nothing worth looking at," he lied through his teeth, hoping Ethan was not being persistent. All hell would break loose if he saw the sketches of Brian, and he definitely had drawn him a lot. And Justin would have a hard time to offer an explanation other than the fact that he couldn’t withstand the temptation to put the hot stuff to paper.

Good that Brian was an asshole, otherwise, Justin might have a harder time to stay away from him. He was a little disappointed with himself, to be honest. 

At first, Ethan stared at him like he was going to offer some flattery compliments to get Justin to show him the sketches but then he seemed to reconsider and nodded his head in understanding.

"So… I thought we could maybe carry up the armchair together?"

Justin blinked a few times, he didn’t quite expect his boyfriend’s next words to be about the armchair, he rolled his eyes at him and then sighed out loudly.

"As you like. Let’s do it."

They were just climbing the first stair, him on the bottom and Ethan on top when Ethan seemed to trip and the damn thing landed on him, making him fall straight on his butt and knocking the wind out of him with the weight of it.

"Shit, Justin, are you okay?" No, he was not fucking okay! Thank you very much! What a dumb question to begin with! Instead of throwing insults Ethan’s way he moaned in pain, trying to shove the thing off of him but failing as his legs were stuck under it. Not even with the other’s help could he move the damn thing. Shit. He ground his teeth together and tried to shove it again with all his might but to no avail.

"I’ll get some help, just wait here, okay?" Ethan told him in panic and all Justin thought was, where the hell he was supposed to go when he was unable to move! For a change, Ethan should use his brain! Okay, he knew he was too harsh with his boyfriend but fuck.

But before Ethan had the chance to walk away, Brian was standing beside him like he came out of nowhere and then he walked down the stairs to push the chair up with ease. He was even holding it with one hand, turning to Justin until he pushed it aside.

He kneeled down in front of Justin and put a hand on his shoulder, concern apparent in those hazel orbs.

"You alright?" 

For a second he forgot that he was supposed to be in pain until he tried to lean forward, movings his legs in the process, closer to the brunet; and then he felt it surging through his body. Fuck.

His hands were only covered in minor abrasions but his legs hurt like hell, especially his left knee, which bore the brunt. That’s where the armchair landed first when he had fallen down.

Biting his bottom lip, he nodded his head trying to suppress the signs of pain on his face but it seemed like Brian looked right through him.

"You don’t have to act fucking tough and shit. You can’t fool me, no matter how hard you try, blondie," he smiled at him and then Ethan walked down the rest of the stairs, eyeing Brian from head to toe.

"Who are you?"

"A burglar who was just about to get his job done when he heard all the fucking noise and went to see if the owners of the apartment above were not coming home earlier than he expected. That would truly upset my plans," Brian offered sarcastically, helping Justin up and taking a hold of his waist when Justin winced in pain.

"What?!" Ethan cried out, oblivious to the sarcasm of the whole statement.

"Listen up- Wait, what’s your name?" Brian asked.

"Ethan…"

"Okay, Ian. Your fucking boyfriend fell down because you were too stupid to carry the thing one flight of stairs, so someone might think your priority would be to look after him but apparently, you’d rather ask dumb questions."

"Brian, it’s okay…" Justin murmured and stared at the appalled expression on both their faces. Ethan seemed to take offense at the things Brian said and Brian seemed angry because Ethan sometimes failed to be a good boyfriend.

Another day, he didn’t imagine to spend like this. He already asked himself if it had been a good idea to move here, of all places.

"Wait, you know each other?" Ethan pointed at him and then at Brian, his jealousy showing and completely disregarding anything Brian had said only seconds ago.

"That’s not your fucking business but yes, we do. I'm Brian Kinney, and it's a pleasure meeting you, well not really. "

Brian then grabbed Justin like a potato sack and threw him over his shoulder, mindful of his knee.

"I can walk by myself!" Justin shouted embarrassed about being handled that way but also because one of Brian’s hands was on his upper thigh and very close to his butt, he could feel the heat through the fabric of his jeans.

"The hell you can, twat."

"Don’t speak to my boyfriend that way! And I can carry him myself," Ethan argued stepping up to Brian like a dog trying to mark his territory but the brunet held him back with one hand, the other still had a good grip on him.

"Yeah, right. And then you fucking fall and break his neck in the process. Not on my watch, curly hair."

Then he simply walked past an offended Ethan and into their apartment, going for the bedroom and then he carefully put Justin down on the bed and checked out his knees. His fingers gently probed his skin and then he suddenly looked up, making his breath catch in his throat when Justin was overwhelmed by the sheer hotness of his neighbor and his beautiful eyes. 

"Looks like it’s nothing serious. You should be fine, just don’t put too much weight on your left leg and take it easy. If you can do that and not be a persistent shit trying to prove something, of course," Brian raised his eyebrows playfully and Justin wanted to have a smart comeback but then he was reminded of the fact if Brian hadn’t come to his rescue, then he might still lay on the floor waiting for someone to free him.

"Thank you…" He said quietly and Brian smirked. The other put a hand on his cheek and Justin was sure Brian would lean in any second, close the distance, and kiss him when Ethan interrupted them.

Not that he had wanted Brian to kiss him! Not at all!

Brian then simply stood up, glanced at him one last time and walked up to an uneasy looking Ethan whose hands were balled up to fists at his sides. 

Justin rolled on his side, turning his back to the door and heard some more insults thrown at each other before there was quiet.

And here went not seeing his neighbor so shortly after. But this time he felt some warmth spread in his lower stomach when he thought about him. Probably, because Brian saved him. That’s it. That was all there is to it.

He tried to enjoy the silence as long as he could before Ethan was coming back and probably wanted to know everything about Brian and him. 

Despite everything, he closed his eyes and smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love <3


	3. Discovery

[ ](https://imgbb.com/)

**Chapter Three**

His peace lasted thirty minutes before Ethan stormed into the bedroom, standing there with his hands on his hips and demanding answers. As Justin said, Ethan was the very jealous type and he was glad that he had decided against telling him about yesterday. 

Carefully, Justin sat up and leaned back, suppressing the need to roll his eyes. He’d rather have a nap than to have the talk about their neighbor. Or let’s say, there were a lot of other things he would rather do than to talk. But there was no way out of it. He had to do it now, otherwise, the questions would never end until he just wished to be released from his sorrows. 

"Look, it’s not what it looked like. Not that I think that it looked like anything but apparently you did, so here we are," Justin pressed his lips together, trying his hardest to focus on his upset boyfriend instead of his mysterious neighbor. "Yesterday, I introduced myself to him as his new neighbor and just asked him if he could help me with the armchair and he…" was behaving like an asshole. Wait, should he really tell him that? Or should he just lie? What harm was there in a little lie that saved him from more drama?

"He what?" Ethan asked impatiently, his eyes throwing daggers at him.

"Calm down, would you?" Ethan then put his arms down to his sides and visibly took a deep breath.

"I’m as cool as a cucumber."

"He just told me he had other stuff to do and then I went back to our apartment. That’s it."

"That’s it?"

"Yes," he nodded his head, and then Ethan came up to the bed, staring at him for what felt like hours before he figured it would be okay to take a seat without having Justin throw him off. 

Ethan then took a hand in his and with his thumb, he drew circles on the back of his hand.

"I’m really sorry about being that clumsy… and for being a little jealous," Ethan admitted, and Justin just stared at him. He was surprised by the apology because he didn’t expect it.

"I know sometimes I can be a little overbearing but I just wanted to be sure that I’m the only one there is because you’re truly my muse and I wouldn’t know what I’d do without you around," he raised his hand to his mouth and planted a wet kiss on it. 

"It’s fine. I can understand, I’d probably react similarly if I had been put in your shoes and some strange guy walked up to you and acted like he knew better," Brian actually knew better than Ethan and Justin was sure that he would in fact NOT act that way. He would have been glad if someone had helped Ethan in that situation, not act like some fucking jealous drama queen. But these were all things he kept quiet about because he was fed up with all the shit today and just wanted to sleep an hour or two. 

"I’m glad you feel the same way. This Brian guy was an arrogant asshole and I hope we don’t get to see him around that much."

Justin hoped he wouldn’t see Brian, too, but for different reasons. He had behaved like an asshole but at the same time, he hadn’t. Which was weird.

"Yeah…" He responded in an unsure voice and Ethan took it as agreement, even though it was not really one. 

So he leaned in to kiss Justin on the lips and Justin was glad he was off the hook.

-

The next weeks he and Ethan had a peaceful life and settled in their new apartment. Lucky for him, he didn’t get to see Brian anymore and the armchair was at its place, too. For some reason, it was like his neighbor dropped off the face of the earth. 

But he saw Mrs Brown from downstairs a few times but didn’t get a chance to officially introduce himself yet. She was an old lady in her late sixties, her hair completely white like snow and always drawn back in a long ponytail and she rarely seemed to be home.

One afternoon he finally had the chance to meet her officially though. He was just coming back from the gallery where they organized his next exhibition when he saw her closing the door behind her, ready to go wherever she always went. 

Justin thought this was a chance like no other. Apparently, both of his new neighbors are a rare sight, but Brian even more so.

So, he walked up to her with a smile plastered to his face while the old lady fumbled with her red bag and didn’t see him coming.

"Hi, I’m Justin Taylor your new neighbor. I never really got the chance to introduce myself to you," he said, the smile still glued to his face. 

She then looked up and her piercing green eyes met his and her thin lips drew to a smile. Shaking the hand he held out, she regarded him and she seemed to approve of him as her new neighbor. At least one of two.

"Hello there, young man, it’s nice to meet you at last. My name’s Lisa Brown. In the last weeks I was so busy I almost forgot we got someone new up there. Or maybe it’s just my memory," she laughed and closed the buttons on her blue jacket. "I sometimes even forget that Brian lives up there on the third floor because I hardly see him but well," her green eyes stared at him with curiosity. "So have you met Brian yet?"

"Uhm, yes. Actually, I met him the first day I moved here, he seems… nice." 

"Oh, that’s because he is!" She gushed. "And he’s also very handsome if I say so myself," she looked at him expectantly, her drawn-on eyebrows raised. Did she know that he was gay? It was kind of weird but sometimes the world is. 

Nervously, he ran a hand through his blond hair and gave her a tortured smile.

"I actually moved here with my boyfriend Ethan."

Her mouth then popped open and then she nodded her head in understanding but seeming a little disappointed to not be able to set him up with Brian.

He wondered if Brian was a jerk just towards him and Ethan because this lady seemed to be kind of a fan of the brunet. They had only talked briefly but her whole face lit up when she’d asked him about Brian.

"That’s a shame but I guess it would be hard for him to have a relationship anyway, especially now that it is summer, you know?" Lisa put a hand on her rosy cheek, looking kind of sad for some reason and Justin had no idea what she was talking about.

"What do you mean?"

"You don’t know? Hasn’t he told you?"

Justin stared at her in confusion , his eyebrows drawn together and his eyes having a thousand questions.

"No. I didn’t get to talk to him that much… Actually, I haven’t seen him for weeks now."

"Well… Let me tell you because I know how confusing it is when you have no idea. He avoids getting out in summer because he has a severe sun allergy that is so bad that he even works at home for the most part and doesn’t get out much at day, the poor thing. I can’t imagine living like that, always holed up in the dark, but he seems to take it well because he's never complained about it, or at least he's never told me he had any problems with his condition. But you know, I think he’s just trying to put on a brave face whenever I talk to him because who would be happy to live their life like this? So sadly you won’t get to see him much. In the nine years he lived here he almost was like a ghost but one that left an impression - but it’s not like I’m any better, most of the time I am at my younger sister’s and help her out in the garden."

That was a lot to take in. Now it all made more sense. The dark loft, all the drawn curtains blocking out the sun and why he had been sleeping in the afternoon. And the more he thought about it, maybe that was also the reason he’d been so reluctant to help since at that time the sun had still been up - when he’d asked him. Did this mean he was not an asshole? Gosh, he hoped this was not some big secret she had told him about 'cause Brian didn’t mention anything but he was really glad that she told him. Now he really wanted to apologize for being so persistent… but then again this guy tried to come on to him… Fuck. If he was upstairs right now and spent his time alone in the darkness? It sounded hella lonely and made this horrible feeling spread in his chest. That must really suck even though he never heard of a sun allergy, which was so bad that the person couldn’t leave their house, but then again, he was not a doctor.

Lisa startled him out of his thoughts when she spoke again.

"Now I really have to go, otherwise, my sister will think somebody kidnapped me. But who would kidnap an old woman like me?" She joked and jabbed her elbow lightly in his side. "So give your boyfriend my best wishes and maybe we can get together some time for a coffee and some cake." She suggested and Justin smiled at her. She was lovely.

"Yeah, sure. And thank you for telling me, I’ve been kind of wondering what’s up with him," Justin responded.

"Don’t worry too much, dear. Now if you’ll excuse me, otherwise my sister will have a search party on the lookout for me."

"Sure, sorry."

Lisa smiled at him and then she waved him goodbye as she walked up to her car.

-

Justin laid awake in bed that night, unable to sleep with his thoughts swirling around Brian. Good that Ethan was sleeping like a log, his drool currently soaking the fabric of his white shirt he wore to sleep. 

Closing his eyes, he was about to take a chance to give sleep a try but then he heard a noise coming from outside, which sounded like the entrance opening and then closing shut downstairs. 

Quickly, Justin decided to disentangle himself from Ethan’s grasp on him and sneaked out of bed to investigate. 

Only dressed in a shirt and his shorts he opened the door to the hall and peeked out. Seeing nothing, he then stepped out, his bare feet making contact with the cold ground, and closed the door behind him quietly. 

It was hard to see in the dark but from the corner of his eye he saw movement and as he was about to switch on the light switch to his right, a hand suddenly stopped him, holding onto his wrist tightly.

"What do we have here?" A shudder made its way through his body when the other’s lips touched the shell of his ear. Justin tried to turn around but Brian then decided to press him into the wall, unable to move any longer. His body pressed close to his, making Justin aware of the fact that he was not wearing much. The material of Brian’s jeans felt rough against the skin of his legs and he didn’t know why but for some reason he found the whole situation arousing. Get it together Justin! Now was not the time for this! A normal person would be creeped out at this point but he wasn’t. 

"Brian…" he brought out, and then he felt the other’s front align with his back, feeling the obvious bulge against the thin fabric of his shorts, suppressing the need to push his butt out to make even more contact, to feel his body heat. He bit his lips as his nails bit into the soft skin of his palms. What was happening to him? Why did Brian have such an effect on him?

"I told you to call me, Mr. Kinney. Shouldn’t you be in there to cuddle with your boyfriend?" Brian asked, catching his ear between his teeth and biting down lightly. When he received no answer he continued to follow the curve of his ear with his tongue, making Justin groan and then involuntarily press his ass against the brunet’s now hard cock.

"But I know why you’re here and not in there. You have wanted it to be me. You seek out variety from your monotonous life and the thought of me excites you this much that you even go as far as to sneak out of your boyfriend’s bed in the middle of the night, dressed only in shorts and a shirt in the hope that I ravish you right here, on your doorstep, so your pathetic excuse of a boyfriend can hear you cry out and moan in pleasure and maybe take notes on how to make you come so hard you forget your own name." Brian then sneaked one hand around and cupped his dick, pressing a wet kiss to the side of his neck. 

"Mh, blondie, Is that why you’re here?"

Justin tried his hardest to form a coherent sentence but he could only concentrate on Brian, the smell of cigarettes and his aftershave and somehow the distinct tang of iron; and on his hand that now found its way into his shorts and was stroking his cock to completion ever so slowly. His breath hitched and he put a hand on Brian’s to stop his teasing movement but to no avail - Brian continued and pressed his thumb to his leaking slit, grinding his own hard-on against the curve of his ass.

"You like that? Come on, let Ian hear your pretty voice."

Only seconds later, he felt the familiar feeling of heat spread in his guts, his balls drew up and then he spilled come all over Brian’s hand and the insides of his shorts, biting his hand in the process to muffle any sounds. 

Panting he finally had the strength to turn around, he leaned against the door, staring at the dark form that was Brian. 

"I didn’t come here for this…" He started but knew how pathetic it sounded when the evidence of his desire was on Brian’s hand and in his shorts. Fuck. Why did he not put up a fight? He didn’t know. "I… I met Mrs. Brown today and she told me about you, about your sun allergy and I wanted to apologize for being so insensitive… But now I feel like I’m not sorry at all anymore."

Brian chuckled and put a hand beside his head, supporting himself. "You know, sorry is bullshit anyway, besides it’s not like you could fucking know what’s up in the first place, so to me your excuse is as pathetic as your boyfriend."

"Would you stop insulting him! He’s not as bad as you think he is!" 

Justin got angry, glaring at Brian even though he knew the guy could not see him.

"Oh? Why are you cheating on him then with the so-called asshole?"

"I’m not cheating!"

"Yeah, right. You can tell yourself that all you want but this mess on my hand," he held it up to his face. "Says otherwise. But I can let you live in your magical bubble for a little longer. It’s better to stay away from me. I bite."

He could imagine the snarky grin the other must have at this moment.

Justin’s face heated up and probably had the color of a tomato from embarrassment and anger. This guy was an asshole! A fucking jerk!

"Fine by me. I can’t fucking stand you." 

"Enough to explode all over my hand," Brian leaned in closer. "So I guess, your knee is fine by now?"

Biting his lips, he pushed Brian away from him.

"Fuck you!" Justin exclaimed, furious.

"You wish."

He had enough.

He then hurriedly fumbled with his keys and shut the door behind him, wishing he could slam it shut but Ethan was sleeping in the bedroom. Now he had made everything even worse. He put his hands in front of his face, hiding from reality. He let Brian jerk him off and he didn’t even try to get away… It was a mistake. But one that won’t repeat itself. It was the middle of the night so he couldn’t think clearly because he was exhausted and tired and so confused. 

When he took his hands down, he noticed red in his peripheral view. There was blood smeared on his wrist. Did he hurt himself? His eyes widened at the sight and he made his way to the bathroom. As he put his hand under the faucet, he saw as the red washed away and only the white of his skin remained. He investigated his wrist closely, but there was no sign of a wound. Weird. To be sure, he undressed completely and looked himself over but there was nothing to be found. How come there was blood then? Wasn’t this where Brian had held onto him? Was the other hurt? But Justin was sure if Brian had been hurt then he would have said something, or would he? 

Justin was confused and stared at the remains of red disappearing in the sink.


	4. Going out

[ ](https://imgbb.com/)

**Chapter Four**

The next days Justin spent speculating about the blood. Since it wasn’t his blood, it must have been Brian’s. At least, that was the only logical explanation… OR Brian was some ax murderer, but this was very unlikely and if he was one he was a very bad one because a good murderer wouldn’t leave any traces.

Honestly, even though he told Brian that he wanted to stay away from him, he also wanted to confront him about the whole blood thing, he wanted to know because it was driving him crazy and he also thought of it as weird. More than weird.

But like the last weeks, he didn’t see him. Hell, Justin had even pretended to be asleep next to Ethan and listened closely to any sounds coming from outside but all there was, was silence. So, in conclusion, all his efforts resulted in sleep deprivation and he gave up. Of course, there was always the option of going upstairs and simply knocking on his ugly metal door but Justin had his pride and didn’t want to be obvious about it, though, you would think that his idea of sneaking out of the bedroom in the middle of the night to catch Brian redhanded wasn’t very subtle either.

-

Justin was so fed up with this day, he came home in an already bad mood and slammed the door to the apartment shut. These guys should learn how to be careful with other people’s stuff! Now he could do it all over again. 

Ethan immediately stood up from his comfortable position on the couch when he entered the living room.

He was about to make some steps towards him, but Justin strutted over to the couch, pushed Ethan back into the seat and planted himself next to him, throwing an arm and a leg over his boyfriend. He needed some comfort. He mushed his face against the other’s neck and closed his eyes, trying to forget about all the shit that went down at the gallery. It seemed impossible. 

Fingers brushed through his hair and he felt Ethan’s lips against the top of his head, and it had its wanted effect and calmed him down.

"What happened?" Ethan asked worriedly, his lips moving against his hair.

"Do I have to talk about it?" He sulked like a little child and pressed his face even more against his neck, his voice sounded funny because of the way his nose was mushed against Ethan’s skin.

"You don’t have to but I’m sure you’ll feel better after you let off some steam."

He was not so sure about it.

"Fine, I don’t think it’ll have any use but since you want to know…" He started and heard Ethan chuckle and Justin turned his face in order to speak properly without sounding like a duck or someone who had a very bad cold.

"You know about my next exhibition in the gallery that was almost finished?" He asked and Ethan nodded his head, he felt it more like he saw it. "Apparently, one of those new guys, who was supposed to transport the painting from the truck to the gallery managed to fall and ruined it. And if that wasn’t bad enough, the same guy somehow got paint over another one. No idea how or why, and it doesn’t even matter that this guy got rightfully fired but it still means I have to repaint those two and … this one painting he ruined in his fall was my favorite one out of all the other ones. You know the blue one with all those red strokes and splatters, this idiot. I’m so fucking pissed."

Ethan put an arm around him and pulled him closer to his body.

"And rightfully so, but I know you can somehow work it out. You’re a genius, so it shouldn’t be a big deal to redo those two paintings, right?" 

Great empathy there. That really helped him out. Of course, he could repaint them but it was still frustrating and he already gave his all when he had painted them the first time. And there was no certainty that they would turn out as good as the first ones and that he would be happy with them, happy with his work.

"Right," he replied, feeling like his problems weren’t taken seriously. He abruptly stood up, and announced: "I want to go to Babylon tonight." 

"What? But I thought we could spend our day here and cuddle and watch some TV together."

He turned around and looked down at the confused expression on his boyfriend’s face. 

"We do that every other day, Ethan! And some romantic dinner with candlelight and pillows on the floor is just not gonna cut it today! I need some real distraction; and the blending colorful lights and the loud music in Babylon are perfect for clearing my head from all the shit that went down today - and this disastrous day in general. I just want to dance until I pass out. And you can either come with me or stay home, but I’m definitely going."

"Sounds more like the perfect opportunity for you to get hit on by a dozen strange guys."

Justin rolled his eyes at him, sighing loudly as he turned around to the bedroom to find something suitable to wear. He didn’t care today. Ethan could put on the jealous act all he wanted to but it was not holding him back from going. Nothing could. Hell, a zombie apocalypse could break lose and he would still be going to Babylon.

He couldn’t even remember the last time he had been to Babylon… It’s been too long but at least this was making him even more excited for the night.

He chose to wear a dark blue shirt, that was practically plastered to his skin and some jeans that fit him snuggly, accentuating his backside and turning all the attention to his best asset: his ass. 

Justin was not trying to be hit on by other guys, but he couldn’t deny that he liked to get some attention and he also kind of liked to dress up for special occasions. 

Putting the last touches to his hair, so it didn’t look like it was a bird’s nest and looked more like the perfect bed-hair instead, he walked back into the living room with his arms held up to his sides, presenting himself with pride and Ethan’s mouth plopped open like a fish’s.

It was kind of funny.

"You plan on going out like this?!" He asked outraged and regarded him from head to toe, his eyebrows nearly touching his hairline.

Looking down at himself, he scowled and looked back at Ethan.

"Why? What’s wrong with it?"

"It looks like you’re practically asking them to grope and fondle you on the dance floor! These clothes are too tight!"

"They’re all dressed like this in there, hell, they’re even dressed worse if they’re dressed at all. I’m going to a gay dance club and not attending mass. Calm down."

Ethan stared at him with wide dark eyes and then he pressed his lips together, stood up wordlessly, walked passed him, right into the bedroom.

"What are you doing?" He called after him, suppressing the need to run a hand through his perfectly tousled hair.

"I’m going with you! Obviously!"

Taking a deep breath, he should have guessed that Ethan wouldn’t let him go out like this without keeping an eye on him, so there would be no one in close proximity who dared to touch or even thought about brushing his arm against him by accident. He could only hope that Ethan toned it down at the club and was at least trying to have fun there, even though he hated the whole party scene.

No matter what, he was going to enjoy himself.

"Don’t take too long or I’ll leave you here!"

-

They arrived at Babylon half an hour later and when they entered the club, it was already brimming full of sweaty half-naked men everywhere in all kind of shapes and sizes; and the loud beat of the music was thrumming through his body. Justin's eyes had to be sparkling at that moment because it still was like he remembered from good old times he had spent here when he had just discovered himself and his sexuality. 

"Let’s get some drinks first," he announced happily and pulled Ethan with him, who glared at everybody who admired Justin’s backside a little too long.

Justin was sipping on his second beer whereas Ethan was not even finished with his first one when he decided it was time to dance. He tried to talk Ethan into coming with him but his boyfriend insisted on finishing his beer first and then joining him afterward. Well, whatever. He sulked for maybe three seconds before he went on his merry way. He managed to fight his way through the masses and then he was in his element, even more so when they played 'Dancing Queen' by Abba. Rolling his hips to the rhythm and putting his hands in the air and lip-syncing the lyrics, he was completely at ease and all the stress from today melted away. The blonde loved to dance and how he had missed it to do so.

There were a few hands here and there, people handing him their numbers, offers to the backroom or some men muttering dirty words and promises in his ear, but Justin did a great job in refusing every single one of them with Ethan staring holes into him from his seat at the bar. 

Weirdly enough, Ethan never joined him on the dance floor, all he was doing was sitting there like someone put glue on his stool and he was forced to stick to it. 

Nevertheless, he was having a good time, somehow dancing always put his mind off of things and just alleviated him.

Arms wrapped around his waist and a body pressed against his from behind. Justin turned around in the stranger’s arms and was about to reject yet another guy, who tried his luck, but stopped in his tracks when he saw who it was. In front of him stood Brian, dressed in a sleeveless black button up, and washed out Levis who stuck to him like a second skin. His hair was plastered to his forehead and the smirk, he knew too well by now, was gracing his lips. It was ridiculous and completely unfair how hot he looked. Even more so when he was all sweaty in a room full of other hot men but he clearly was the one who gathered all the attention, one look around and it felt like everyone's eyes were turned on them. 

"What are you doing here?"

"Let me think," He put a finger to his lips looking thoughtful but Justin knew he was mocking him. "Well, Blondie, if it’s not obvious I’m here to dance, drink and fuck." He came closer at the last words, his hands still firmly on the blonde's hips, marking him with the heat of his skin.

Maybe it was a dumb question. "The real question is what are you doing here?"

Justin gave him a smug smile back.

"If it wasn’t obvious, Mr. Kinney, I’m here to drink and dance," Justin repeated his words.

He could see how the brown in those hazel orbs was quickly swallowed by the black, and Brian licked his bottom lip, his smirk getting wider by the second.

"Oh? That’s interesting. But what about the fucking part?"

He blinked a few times before he realized what he was doing and with whom he was here, and then he put his hands against Brian’s chest to regain some distance between them.

"I’m here with Ethan. He’s at the bar." Justin looked back and saw Ethan throwing daggers his way, or actually, it was Brian’s way. Not again. Why was Brian here and had to ruin his carefree night? 

Brian looked over his shoulder and back at him, biting the inner of his lips, one eyebrow raised.

"What’s he doing at the bar? Wait, let me guess, he’s here to keep an eye on your blond boy ass, so no one can have a piece of you. He’s fucking pathetic but at the same time it’s great entertainment."

"No, he’s here to be with me," he lied aggravated by the other's assumptions.

"If he was, he’d be right here," Brian slid his hands to his back, letting them drop to his butt and pulling him against him. "But he’s sitting over there like a wimp, trying to murder me with his eyes instead of coming here and doing something against it. I know when you’re lying."

Justin stared at Brian, particularly at his lips as they moved with every word, looking so sinful. He almost didn’t register the words tossed his way because he was so focused on Brian’s goddamn mouth.

It took a lot of discipline to look away.

"Stop it, Brian. You told me to stay away from you and I did and now you’re here getting on my nerves once again," Justin replied, trying to get away from the brunet's warm body but all his struggling was of no avail. Then he remembered the blood. 

"I don’t think you stayed away because you wanted to, it was more likely that you didn’t have a chance to encounter me. You’re a bad liar, blondie. And I’m here to check out the new piece of meat everyone can’t seem to shut up their fucking mouths about," Brian dipped his head down, his lips pressing against his ear.

He could feel Ethan’s eyes on them… but somehow he was unable to get away. The heat of Brian's breath against his ear making him shudder. It was distracting.

What the fuck? Piece of meat?

"You’re right," He turned his head away. "I wanted to see you but not because it’s such a pleasure but for the reason that I-"

Brian put a hand over his mouth, stopping him from talking. 

"I remember our last meeting being very pleasurable, at least for one of us," He smirked, his teeth showing and his hands squeezing his butt and pressing him against Brian’s hard body. In so many ways hard... "And forget the other thing. It was nothing, not any of your business."

Justin wanted to protest because he wanted to know but then there were hot, soft lips against his, a tongue demanding entrance and Justin was a little bit swamped. For a second he was not even realizing what was happening but as soon as he was, he pushed the other away with all his might, glaring at him and wishing away any traces of Brian off his lips with the back of his hand.

Brian winked at him. 

"That one was for Ian, see you around or let’s say I hope for you... you won’t see me." 

Brian said in a warning tone and then he turned around and walked away, disappearing in the crowd. 

This fucking asshole set him up! He put him on the spot!

Justin’s bad mood was back. But now for a completely different reason that had to do with Mr. Mysterious giving him the cold shoulder, and avoiding his question. What the fuck was wrong with this guy? How could he have even known what Justin wanted to ask him about?

Annoyed, he made his way back to Ethan who looked not very impressed by the turn of events. If he was in Ethan’s place he wouldn’t be happy about his boyfriend getting groped and kissed by their rude neighbor either. But Ethan could have at least come to his rescue!

"What was that? Didn’t you tell me there was nothing going on between you two? You were getting very friendly there with this jerk on the dance floor!" Ethan accused him, fuming with anger.

Running his hands through his sweaty hair, he pressed his lips together to a tight white line, looking pissed off himself.

"There’s nothing going on! I tried to get away but he wouldn’t fucking let me."

"Didn’t look like you put up much of a fight, to begin with, especially, when he kissed you."

"Fuck, Ethan! Maybe if you would have been there like you said you would, all of this wouldn’t have happened! Then the asshole wouldn’t have had a chance to grab me because you would have been here, but no, since coming here you've played the jealous boyfriend and sulked at the bar."

Ethan regarded him warily and then his eyebrows drew together in a frown.

"So you’re telling me it’s my fault that you let him touch you?"

Justin bristled with anger, wanting to tell him yes! That’s the reason but he knew it was not. Perhaps partly.

"God, I can’t do this right now! I’m fucking going!"

His arm was grabbed by a hand, holding him back, he looked at the distrustful eyes of his boyfriend.

"Where to?"

"None of your business."

Tearing himself from Ethan’s grip, he made his way through the crowd and out of the club, right into the cold night. He hated how you were sweating at day and freezing at night but well, he was boiling from the inside which was enough to keep him warm through his thin clothes.

Walking around through dark alleys to avoid getting home was not a very smart plan but he’d do anything to stay out a little longer to avoid having another confrontation with Ethan about the jerk he most definitely didn’t want to talk about. He didn’t even want to think about!

At one point, he felt like someone was following him and watching his every step. He swore he could hear silent steps behind him. He increased his pace and tried to get out of the dark alley as fast as he could, the bad feeling in the pit of his stomach growing worse and worse by every second.

When he felt like was someone was looming behind him, he looked back to see nothing but an empty alley but when he turned back around to fucking run for the public street ahead, he saw a dark figure in front of him, blocking his way. He couldn’t see the face of the man since the light came up behind him, making it impossible to distinguish anything.

But what Justin knew for sure was this was a bad sign, a very bad sign. Menacing. Swallowing nervously, he tried to control his trembling body and get his shaking legs to move, he managed a few steps backward, never taking his eyes off the stranger and then the man moved in a speed which was completely inhuman. In the next moment, he found himself pressed to the dirty wall of a rundown building, a hand on his throat. He gasped out of shock and that is when he felt the hand on his throat blocking his airways, making it impossible to breathe. Justin tried to use his last strength but the person in front of him was just too strong, seeming unfazed by his efforts to escape. His vision blurred, the pale face in front of him melting away into an indistinguishable splotch until he lost consciousness.


	5. The morning after

[ ](https://imgbb.com/)

**Chapter Five**

Ethan rolled to his side, reaching out for the warm body that’s supposed to be there but all there was, was the cold mattress and the untouched sheets. Where was Justin?

Slowly, he opened his crusted eyes and sat up and stared at the empty space beside him. Then it all came back to him. How they’d fought and Justin left at the end. Tiredly, he rubbed his eyes and yawned before he made his way to the bathroom to take a piss. After showering, he looked in the living room but there was no sign of him either. There was no sign that he even came back the last night, which worried him since this was so unlike Justin. No matter how much they fought they had always come back to each other, to their respective homes. He couldn’t imagine that Justin stayed out the whole night just because he was angry with him. 

Thinking of different scenarios and staring at the front door as if Justin might walk through it any second, he remembered that Brian had been there yesterday. Right! That jerk had been dancing with Justin very intimately and even had the audacity to kiss him in front of him! But then again, Justin had left the club alone as far as he knew. Maybe he hadn't been alone after all. Maybe they had met again outside of Babylon and spent the night together and he was upstairs at Brian’s laughing at him behind his back because he was too stupid to see the obvious signs. The thought made his toe-nails crawl backward and his whole body shudder in disgust.

Therefore he put on some clothes and shoes, walked up the stairs to his neighbor's with purpose, only to be faced with the dreadful metal door.

To hell with friendliness, he thought, as he pounded his fist against the door, making sure the jerk inside would be aware of his presence (and maybe the old lady from downstairs as well).

Ethan stood there for a few minutes, waiting for the door to slide open but for some reason, it didn’t. So he furiously knocked on it again even harder than the first time. When they thought they could ignore him then they thought wrong!

After another minute, he was about to knock for the third time but then the door slammed open and a scowling Brian stood in front of him, a dangerous look in his hazel eyes.

"One more time and I’m gonna make you regret it," he snapped and leaned against the doorway, only dressed in some sweatpants, looking like he had been up all night and had only gone to sleep in the early morning hours. "What do you fucking want? Hurry so I can go back to sleep."

Ethan bit the corner of his lips and tried to get inside the loft to look for his boyfriend but Brian held him back and then pushed him for good measure.

"What the hell?"

"Where’s he? I know he’s here with you and I want him to come out!" He glared at the older man.

"Who the fuck are you talking about? Justin?"

His frown had to be enough of an answer since Brian smirked in response.

"Oh yeah, the little blond with the great ass and the attitude," Brian stroked his stubbly chin, trying to look thoughtful. "After I fucked his brains out and he thanked me for having a decent fuck once in a while, I sadly didn’t see him again…" He raised one eyebrow at him and his smirk grew wider.

Ethan was about to push his luck again to get entrance to the loft when Brian spoke up again.

"I’m only joking, " His smirk disappeared and he rolled his eyes in annoyance, maybe finally realizing that Ethan’s serious. "The last time I saw him was right before he went back to you with his tail between his legs in Babylon. Why?"

"Well, he didn’t come home and he didn’t write to me either."

"Maybe he just needed some time away from you and your horrible choice of facial hair. I would need it for sure."

Touching his beard in the process, he clenched his teeth and regarded the brunet for any other clues but for once he was sure that the asshole didn’t lie. 

"He would never just stay out without messaging me or telling me in the first place! Thanks for nothing, I guess."

"Well, people can change if you believe it or not. You’re not his mother," Brian slid the door half-way shut before he stopped. "One more thing, the next time you decide to fucking knock on my door like someone who ran loose from a nuthouse, I’ll take that as an invitation to push you down those stairs."

The door slid shut with a loud bang and Ethan stood there as clueless as before. The good thing was though, that Justin apparently wasn’t with the jerk but the question was, where was he then?

Lost in thoughts, he trudged down the stairs back to their apartment.

-

It’s cold. His cheek pressed to the cold, rough, wet ground. Justin blinked a few times in order to see clearly because his vision was blurry. With a lot of effort, he managed to sit up against the wall, taking in his surrounding. He was in an abandoned alley, the reek of the dumpster only a few yards away, distinct. He could hear the faint sound of the traffic coming from the street nearby and the dull sound of a dog barking in close distance.

Justin rubbed his arms for some warmth, his clothes must have been drenched from the rain, that’s when he noticed the dark red color on the blue material of his shirt. Frowning, he tried to take a closer look and rolled back his sleeve but he winced in pain, the material stuck to the wound, making it too painful to tear it loose. Sucking his lips between his teeth, he tried his best to think rationally and not to panic.

Ignoring the wound, for now, he desperately felt for his phone in one of his pockets and felt relieved to find it in his right one. So whoever attacked him last night didn’t do it for his valuable goods, all his money and his phone were left on him. Justin didn’t really want to think about the meaning of this. That, someone, had attacked him just for fun or to hurt him.

With shaking hands, he searched for Ethan’s number and pressed the green button to call him. Justin was sure Ethan had to be wondering about his whereabouts. 

"Hello? Justin?"

"Yeah, it’s me…" His voice sounded weak, even to his own ears… but that had to be expected when someone strangled you til you pass out. Justin bit his lip, trying not to think about it. He was glad to be able to even make the call. Who knew what else could have happened. He could be dead. He swallowed the lump in his throat, closing his eyes and concentrating on the feeling of the freezing wind washing over his body.

"Where are you? I’ve been worried since you didn’t call me or message me or anything! All I knew was, that you weren’t there when I woke up this morning."

"I know... It's hard to explain over the phone but I'll do it later...Well, I don’t know where I am exactly, listen, could you maybe p-"

"What do you mean, you don’t know where you are? Wait, there’s a call incoming from the guy that told me he’d take me under his wing, you remember him right? And I really need to take it, but I have to go now anyway. I’m already late, but you have to explain to me everything in the evening."

"Ethan, wai-," Before he even had the chance to make his boyfriend aware of the situation he was finding himself in, Ethan had hung up. He always admired Ethan for his passion for music and his ambitions, even when he put them above their relationship but right at this moment, there was just anger left in him. Sure, Ethan probably thought he had spent the night out or whatever but he could at least have heard him out - instead of simply hanging up. Fuck.

Justin felt the anger boiling up inside of him, he felt the twitching in his fingers to throw his fucking phone against the wall until it split into pieces. It had no use anyway! Sure, he could call his mom but she would worry sick and make too much drama about every little thing. Sure, being attacked was not something to be taken lightly but he seemed to be okay. Just a few scratches here and there, a sore throat and a wound on his wrist. Other than that everything was peachy. Perfectly fine. Just another day in the life of Justin Taylor.

Justin took a deep breath to calm down and then he tried to get up from the cold, wet ground. As soon as he stood on his two legs though, he felt dizziness taking over his body, making him slump against the dirty wall. His vision blacked out a few times and he started feeling sick and he needed to lean back, his head slamming against the hard surface. He was sure he would pass out at any moment.

Suddenly a hand took hold of his shoulder and Justin was sure his attacker was back, so he took a step backward - desperately trying to get away and he almost stumbled to the ground in the process when the dizziness got worse and he felt the horrible darkness filling his vision. But the strong hands were back to support his weight, his breath hitched as he gripped the biceps of that person. He didn't want to faint. Not again. 

"Geez, blondie. What did you get yourself into?" Wait, he knew that voice. Instantly, the feeling of relief filled up his body, making it easier to breathe.

"Brian?" He asked, feeling better now that he didn’t need to put all the weight on his weak legs.

"Yes, it’s me."

Justin tried to calm down and slowly his blurry, blotchy vision disappeared and he looked up to see Brian stare at him. He was taken aback by Brian's looks. Weirdly enough his neighbor wore black sunglasses, a dark cap, some leather gloves, and a dark grey coat. He was covered from head to toe. 

Brian raised an eyebrow at him and looked down at himself. For some reason, he was dressed like a celebrity who tried their hardest not to be recognized by their crazy, lunatic fans. The new undercover look.

"I know this might not be my most stylish outfit of the year but it works."

Justin’s eyebrows drew together and Brian rolled his eyes, his finger pointing upwards.

"My allergy," he reminded him, his voice serious.

Staring up at the cloud-filled sky, he nodded his head. Stupid to forget about something like that, but then again, the sun did not actually shine… Maybe Brian was just careful. Strange nonetheless.

It took him a moment to remember what had happened and also question Brian’s appearance. Was he the attacker? How did he know where to find him? Only the attacker would know… Trying his hardest to remember the night before and his attacker's face, he didn’t exactly notice that Brian was staring at him, or had been staring at him for the past five minutes.

"It would be pretty dumb for me to come back if I was the reason you’re here in the first place, so stop thinking so hard. It’s doing you no good."

Puzzled, he stared up, trying to read Brian’s face, which was hard because of the glasses. 

"But how did you know where I am? Or how did you know in the first place?"

"Long story short. Your boyfriend forced me to open the door, questioned me about your whereabouts and was completely convinced you were at my place and then he told me about you not coming home the other night and some other crap. Well, and when I came back from the office I happened to listen in on your conversation with Ian and here I am. Another question perhaps? How did I find you? I knew you couldn’t be far away from the club and this is an alley where a lot of bad things happened in the last years, so obviously this was the first place to look for you and here you are. Jackpot."

Justin was stunned to silence by Brian’s confession and thankful for him to come to look for him. It was kind of sweet.

"But why did you…" 

"I might be an asshole but I’m not this kind of an asshole. It’s hard to believe but it’s true. So are we done talking and can go now? You look awfully pale and you’re bleeding and oh, not to forget you’re fucking wet. And not the good kind, for that matter. We can talk when we are at my place and I patch you up, so let's fucking go."

Nodding, Justin’s cheeks turned pink from embarrassment. Now he felt awful for accusing Brian of being nothing but a careless asshole. But how could he have known? Sure, Brian had helped him when he had tripped this one time but other than that he had only shown Justin the worst of him, especially yesterday's incident was the tip of the iceberg. Maybe it was worth to reassess the image he had of the other. He wasn't half-bad. He was a lovely, annoying, kind jerk. 

A hand taking a hold of his hip, making it easier for him to put one step in front of the other and they were off to the sound of traffic, walking out of the smelly alley, right to Brian’s black Jeep at the side of the street.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love <3


	6. Patched Up

[ ](https://imgbb.com/)

**Chapter Six**

Exhausted from all the events, Justin dropped on the white leather couch, seeing Brian inwardly cringe when he considered that his clothes were dirty and wet. Brian’s apartment was beautiful. It was spacious, filled with designer furniture, and it showed that Brian had a very elegant and expensive taste. His tired eyes took in the closed blinds, which did a fantastic job in blocking out all the sunlight, leaving the loft brightened by artificial light only. 

He leaned back and closed his eyes for a moment, wondering how he ended up here, when he wanted to distance himself from the man who thought he could do what he wanted and was so unlikeable, at least, most of the times he had met him. But that man was also his savior in some way… Sure, he wouldn’t have died in that alley but it would have taken him considerably longer to find his way home, well, if he didn’t pass out on his way there. 

Listening to doors closing and opening and Brian’s rummaging in the bathroom, he felt content besides the stiffness in his limbs and the numb pain on his arm.

Finally, there was the sound of Brian descending from the stairs and Justin opened his eyes. The other planted himself beside him on the couch and placed the medical kit on the table in front of them.

“How are you feeling?” 

“Tired.”

“You look the way, too.” 

Justin gave him a weak smile. 

Brian nodded and took a hold of his left wrist to place his arm on his lap. Any other day, he’d think Brian wanted to come onto him but he could see the focus in his eyes and he knew somehow that Brian wouldn’t take advantage of him, not when he could not do something about it. 

Brian was about to roll back the sleeve when Justin stopped him in his movement, shaking his head in panic.

“No… It hurts…”

The brunet eyed him, arching one unkempt brow.

“It’s either that or you want me to take you to the hospital.”

Shaking his head even harder at the mention of the hospital, Brian grinned.

“I thought so. Bite your teeth together, princess. This will only take a moment like your mom always told you shortly before she pulled off a bandage, or you got a shot from your doctor. A little pain and then you’ve made it and were a brave little boy.”

“I’m not a fucking child! Would you stop talking and just do it already?”

“You might not be a child, but I’m sure you still have a hard time to get into clubs or even buy alcohol for that matter.”

Justin glared at the other, wishing he could wipe that smirk off his face.

“Brian!” He whined and then without another warning, Brian tore the material sticking to his wound away; Justin bit his lips in the process, crying out as the pain turned into an excruciating burning sensation. The pink color faded away as his teeth met the soft flesh of his plump lower lip.

Tears were forming at the corners of his eyes, but he held them back. He didn’t feel like crying in front of Brian, that would give Brian reason to treat him even more like a child. Justin really felt the urge to slap Brian or to call him names which the asshole deserved but then again, he was the one that said he should do it in the first place. 

“Good boy,” those hazel eyes were laughing at him and Justin sent daggers his way before his eyes landed on the wound and Brian’s did as well.

There were two punctures in his arms, slightly raised and bruised, smeared with dried up blood. Fresh blood was welling up from tearing loose the shirt. It almost reminded him of some vampire marks, the two spots being the place where the teeth had torn through his skin like in these vampire movies. If they went for the neck instead of the wrist, there is.

What sick fuck did this to him and why? Was that some kind of sick joke?

He looked up at Brian and the other stared at his arms transfixed like he was in his own little world and the outside didn’t exist. His eyes looked intense as they tried to burn every detail into his brain. It was weird.

“Don’t tell me you not only have a sun allergy but also an issue with blood? Almost like you’re a vampire.” He chuckled and regarded the other who still didn’t seem to move. It took a few seconds for Brian to tear his eyes away from his injured arm and when he looked at Justin, really looked at him, he couldn’t put a finger to it but his eyes looked more intense. Don’t get me wrong, Brian usually looked intense, but now even more so like he was staring right through my soul and he had the ability to burn me up from the inside to the outside.

Justin swallowed and Brian’s eyes followed the movement of his throat. Jesus fucking Christ, he’d be damned to get a hard-on from Brian just staring at him but he was close to it. So fucking close. How come he was more focused on his dick than on his well-being!

He had been attacked, and he was tired and exhausted but here he was thinking about coming in his pants by Brian staring at him, not to forget he still had a boyfriend (who deserved a kick in the ass but still).

Lost in thoughts, he didn’t even notice how Brian had moved closer and was now nuzzling his neck with his nose and his lips, breathing him in. Justin shuddered from the sensation but found his voice to speak up.

“Wha-what are you doing?”

“I told you, I bite.” 

There was a wet sensation against the tender skin of his throat, the unmistakable feeling of Brian’s tongue creating its own wet path and the gentle graze of sharp teeth and a hot breath fanning against his neck.

The blond moaned and then he heard Brian laugh, the deep sound coming from him in spades, vibrating against his skin and he moved away from him and left him missing the warmth (because his clothes were still wet and geez hopefully, he wouldn’t have to deal with cystitis).

His cheeks turned pink, and he hit Brian on the arm indignantly, saving himself from further embarrassment he avoided looking at him.

“You really are easy,” Brian stated as he grabbed some pads and put on some disinfectant.

“I’m not. You just took me by surprise because you’ve been acting weird,” he stammered, clutching one hand in the leg of his jeans.

“Oh? And here I thought I was fulfilling one of your fetishes since you seemed to have a thing for vampires or maybe you just have a thing for me because you stare at me with those ‘fuck me’- eyes and expect me not to tease you for it.” Brian stared at him, one eyebrow arched, and Justin wanted to tear his head off for the tenth time.

“I don’t have a fetish-!”

“Boring.”

“And I don’t have whatever you called them! I have no interest in assholes likes you and I definitely don’t want you to fuck me, so stop pretending that I do.”

Maybe if he was single, he’d want Brian to fuck- Wait, no, absolutely not. What the fuck? Get your shit together, Justin!

“And here I am the asshole, tending to your wounds while your boyfriend stood you up. But it’s good if you don’t want me to fuck you because I have no intention to do so. I told you it’s better for you to stay away from me and I meant that. Also, I’m not interested in having a little housewife at home waiting for me with dinner because I favor fucking plenty of hot guys without wasting my time on ever thinking about some bullshit feelings. That’s your and Ian’s thing and whatever other disgrace for fags there is in this world. So after I patch you up, I’ll make sure our paths won’t cross that often if ever again. Now hold still this might burn a little.”

“Well, you’re the one that runs after me constantly, not the other way around,” he whispered in response, ignoring the rest of the speech. An intense stare was shot his way.

Justin winced in pain when the disinfectant was pressed to his wound and Brian cleaned it from all the dirt and old blood. After that he put on a bandage, his fingers sliding over his skin gently.

“All done, princess.”

“Don’t call me princess, my name is Justin.”

“All right, blondie.” 

Justin glared which resulted in a loud yawn. The day caught up to him.

“You should get out of those wet clothes before you take your beauty sleep. I’d hate to have my couch ruined by you falling asleep on it in your current state.”

Charming as always.

He nodded in agreement, holding a hand in front of his mouth as he yawned again. 

Walking up to the door, Brian on his heels, he turned around again.

“As much as I sometimes hate to thank you because you’re a prick, I want you to know that I’m really grateful for this,” he pointed at his left arm.

“And even though I don’t quite agree with your questionable views on life and relationships, I think we could be friends. I mean, if you ever stop trying to get into my pants.”

“I feel honored by your offer but I don’t think we could ever be friends. I’d love to take your ass for a ride but that’s it and since I’m not fucking doing that either, there is nothing I have left to give.”

Justin’s mouth popped open, disappointment making its way through his body and filling him with shame. He knew, even after the short time he had known the other, that he seemed complicated, but he wouldn’t have thought he’d flat-out refuse his offer. Justin himself didn’t even know why he had even made that offer. It seemed ridiculous. Pathetic. After everything that had happened between them, he knew that if Brian would have accepted that there would be more incidents he could truly hurt Ethan with. Something inside of him was hoping for this little spark between him and Brian to burst into flames. Dreaming of something he didn’t want to wrap his head around.

Wordlessly, he opened the steel door.

“Justin.”

He turned back around, looking into the serious face the older man was spotting.

“One more thing. Do you remember who has attacked you? Have you seen his face or anything else that might look suspicious?”

“Everything happened so fast… He was so fucking fast and then he pushed me against a wall, and strangled me,” Brian was taking in the bruises that had to be there from the attacker. “But that’s all…"

“I see,” the brunet leaned against the wall, his eyes looking dangerous. “Make sure to avoid dark alleys from now on. You were lucky this time to get away with minor injuries but that could not be the case the next time.”

“Why? Do you think he’d come for me again?” Justin asked startled. He tried so hard not to think about it he had not even considered the possibility. 

“Let’s hope not,” there was an underlying tone in Brian’s voice, like there was so much more to it than he was saying, another untold message. “But if you do what I’ve told you, you should be fine.”

He felt scared. But he didn’t want to tell him this when Brian had no intention of seeing him again. Well, he knew for a fact that this wouldn’t be their last encounter...

“There’s no need to worry. You’ll be fine. I’ll make sure of it.” 

How did he know?

“Brian, what, I mean how-“

Moving a finger to his lips, Brian silenced him, shaking his head.

“No questions. Just go and play family with Ian."

And Justin did. There were still a lot of questions he had but for now, he needed to rest. He felt pretty beat, exhaustion taking over his lithe body. The day had been crazy and Brian acted strange and weirdly protective and he was so confusing. He didn’t know how the other wanted to make sure that nothing else would happen to him but yeah. 

After a hot steamy shower, he went to bed and tried his hardest to block out the continuous repeat of the last events of his attack, but his mind played tricks on him and it was like a broken record, showing the same scene again and again.

Justin buried himself under the thick blanket, feeling like it would suffocate him with its heat.

In the end, the tiredness won the fight, and he fell into a fitful sleep, hunted by dangerous eyes and the vision of blood.


	7. Distraction

[ ](https://imgbb.com/)

**Chapter Seven**

The assault. He decided to not talk about any of the stuff with Ethan and lied to him when he had asked about the wound on his arm. He told him it was from the stove. Yes, that was his excuse, but it had worked. He was glad Ethan accepted it and didn't question him any further, because Justin was certain he'd be unable to answer any questions he might have asked.

He hadn't seen Brian since then. Somehow he was glad about that. It meant he didn't have to think about the night he'd been attacked anymore. Sure, there were times nightmares haunted him and he'd see a blurry face right in front of him, feel cold hands on his neck cutting off his windpipe, lusting for his blood.

All in all, he continued to live his life like nothing had happened. Deep down he knew though, and he was terrified and wanted answers. The curiosity was eating him alive.

-

Justin was just walking in the door, happy that the placement was finished for his new exhibition in the gallery. He just needed to worry about getting there this Friday and answer the usual questions about his art, when Ethan stood up from the couch.

The smile that was grazing his lips faded as he saw the grimace Ethan wore. It was one he knew all too well. A quick glance down and Justin saw the sketchbook Ethan held in his hand. His sketchbook. And by the looks of it, it was one of his new ones as the edges weren't worn and the black cover was still smooth.

Justin felt betrayed that Ethan would look at his stuff without his permission. He had no right! Justin had told him often enough that it was personal, but it seemed Ethan didn't listen anyway and that infuriated him even more.

"Care to explain?" Ethan asked, as he held up the sketchbook, like Justin hadn't already noticed it.

Justin glowered at his boyfriend and took his jacket off, throwing it on the floor carelessly.

"No, there's nothing to explain."

"Oh, really?" Ethan opened up the sketchbook and showed him the countless sketches he had done since the incident on the stairs.

"Then what is this? What are all these sketches of Brian? You told me there was nothing going on between the two of you! You lied to me and made me think I was stupid to even think like that, and now look at this! I love you and then you go and betray me! How could you, Justin?" Ethan was screaming by the end, his sharp teeth showing as he shouted at him.

Justin was reminded of Brian, who had told him on a few occasions that he was cheating on Ethan. Maybe it was time to come clean. Ethan deserved the truth, no matter how shitty his behavior was. But could he really judge the other? Was he any better?

"Look," Justin started, then took a deep breath and brushed a hand through his hair. "There were a few incidents where Brian came onto me, but there's no need to worry. I've made it clear I don't want anything to do with him. I'm sorry you feel like I lied to you, but I didn't want to hurt you by telling you, even though I know I've done just that. But I'm being honest with you when I say I've never had an affair. These sketches? I did them because he was... he _is_ intriguing. They don't mean anything, Ethan."

"So you're telling me, you've drawn him a thousand times, just because? And what incidents? I want to know exactly what he did, so the next time I see him, I can tell him that he should leave his hands off my boyfriend."

Justin sighed.

"Yes, that's what I'm telling you. And I don't want to talk about it. All you need to know is that there is nothing going on between us. You can either believe me or choose to leave it at that. Also, how many times have I told you I don't want you going through my stuff? If you can't respect my wishes, I don't feel like this will work anymore."

Big dark eyes were staring at him, ready to fight his every word until he mentioned the possible end of their relationship. He saw the immediate shift in Ethan's eyes and how his lips curled downwards, the tight grip on the sketchbook loosening.

Ethan laid the sketchbook on the table and slowly walked over to Justin. He regarded him like an animal regarded its enemy, thinking he would attack if he looked the other way or made a hasty movement.

"Let's not draw any quick conclusions. First, I'm sorry for going through your things. And I do believe that there's nothing going on between you and the prick. I can also see why you would want to draw him, he's very good-looking, but you have to know that is all he has to offer. I don't want us to break up, Justin. I love you, don't you love me?"

Not in the mood to fight any longer, Justin forced himself to smile. He chose to ignore the rest of what Ethan had said. Even though all the shit Ethan gave him sometimes, and for all the times he wasn't there for him or had acted like the worst boyfriend on earth, Justin couldn't deny the fact that he still loved Ethan.

Ethan was home, familiarity, and the only one he had left besides Daphne and his mother. But Daphne was busy studying so he rarely had the chance to meet up with her, let alone talk to her. And his mother had to take care of his sister Molly, and on top of that had to deal with the repercussions of the divorce from his asshole father.

"I do," he admitted and took Ethan in his arms.

They spent the rest of the day on the couch watching TV. Dirty Dancing was on and even though Justin had already seen it a hundred times, he still loved watching it. Ever so often his mind kept wandering to a certain brunet, and even though he tried his hardest to block out every single thought related to his neighbor, he found them still sneaking their way into his head. Instead, he focused on the warmth right next to him, the black locks that tickled his skin, the even breathing and the reassurance it gave him. It wrapped him in false security as he pretended that there was nothing else he'd rather do at this moment.

-

For the next couple of weeks, their relationship went uphill. There were fewer fights, more relaxing evenings and mutual understanding. Justin couldn't stop thinking that the reason for the change was the absence of a certain brunet. Trying not to think about Brian proved to be harder than he had anticipated, but at least he didn't seek him out. It was progress. Justin also followed Brian's advice about avoiding dark alleys, therefore, nothing else had happened since then. The blond hoped it would stay this way.

They finally managed to have coffee with Mrs. Brown on the first floor. When she had first seen Ethan, she regarded him warily and then broke out into a smile, winking at Justin and giving him her approval.

Lisa Brown's living room was exactly how he had imagined it. Cozy. There was a wooden table with engraved swirls placed in front of the couch, an old, boxy-type TV in the corner, and a lot of photos of her and her family hung on the wall, along with some art prints of Gustav Klimt. Most notable though, was the big cuckoo clock next to the window which she had explained was made by her grandfather. It was made of dark wood and had folklores carved into its sides, some highlighted with gold paint.

Sitting next to Ethan on the old-fashioned floral patterned couch with fluffy blankets hung over the back, they sipped their coffees and talked about everything and nothing, like Justin's art, Ethan's music or Lisa's sister. Her sister seemed to be her favorite topic to talk about and compared to Justin she was much closer to her sibling than he ever was to Molly. Not that he didn't love his sister, it was just the common hate-love relationship one had with his sibling when he had still lived at home.

He was about to take another sip, his attention on the black and white movie playing on the TV when he heard Brian's name being spoken and it almost made him choke on the coffee.

Both of them were looking at him expectantly and Justin wiped his mouth and then rubbed his hands off on his jeans.

"What?" He asked, fighting against the humiliation washing over him. He spaced out but just had to hear Brian's name in order for his ears to function again.

"Oh, don't you worry, sweetie. Most of the time I have to ask people to repeat themselves, too." She reassured him and gave him a smile he returned.

"I was asking if you've seen Brian recently? I haven't seen him in quite a few days..."

Why did she have to ask him? And why exactly when he was in the company of Ethan. Not that he had any influence on the things Lisa asked, but he was sure Ethan would still give him a hard time as soon as they were back home.

He could see the genuine curiosity and worry in her green eyes. At the same time, Ethan was watching him as well but there was more hostility in his dark orbs.

"No, I haven't seen him. The last time I saw him was about three weeks ago. But why do you ask me?"

She nodded her head slowly, fiddling with the many golden rings on her fingers, while being completely oblivious to Ethan having a crisis right next to Justin.

"Because since you've moved here, he's been out more than usual. He even mentioned you a few times when I got the chance to talk to him, so I thought you two have to be friends and you'd know more than me. Maybe I worry too much as usual... My sister always tells me that I do. But I'm always saying better to worry too much than too little."

"He talked about me?" Justin asked astonished. That was when he felt a hand on his knee and he looked at Ethan. Fuck. Don't let yourself go there. You promised yourself there would be no more thinking about him.

"I mean, we're not friends exactly. So I can't help you with this but I'm sure that everything is alright," his lips curled upwards and he felt Ethan squeezing his knee like he told him that he was proud without using actual words.

Justin hoped Brian was okay... It was weird not seeing him for this long. Sure, he had warned Justin to stay away from him, but Brian had never followed his own advice. Brian had always taken the chance to meet him, or should he say: to annoy the hell out of him. But then again, Lisa sometimes hadn't seen him for weeks... Maybe now _he_ was the one that was worrying too much. Or maybe not.

His teeth pressed down on his bottom lip, leaving it colorless.

"Ah, I see, you're right. Perhaps you should be friends, he seems very fond of you, my dear," she winked at him, a grin on her lips.

His jaw tightened as he ground his teeth together, he didn't even dare look at Ethan in this instance. But one thing he was sure of, this old lady knew exactly what she was doing and was completely aware of Ethan's dislike towards Brian. And Justin was sure she was suggesting something completely different from a friendship.

Deciding that it was for the better to not answer, he stayed quiet and tried to busy himself with drinking small gulps of his almost empty coffee cup.

He was really thankful that Mrs. Brown dropped the topic and the atmosphere lost its heaviness and got back to be being more relaxing.

-

Ethan would be away on tour the next ten days and Justin was thinking about what he'd do in the meantime. Sure, painting was always an option, but it's not like he painted the whole day or every day for that matter. He'd die of boredom. They never did more than hang around in their apartment but at least he had company then.

The thought of his neighbor crossed his mind but he shook his head to himself. No way. Justin when do you learn that Brian doesn't want you close to him and that he's just after the one thing, and then he'd throw you away like a piece of trash, he thought. Whereas Ethan liked him and wouldn't leave him. Not that Justin would actually be interested in having a relationship with Brian! Brian was an asshole... a fucking hot one at that, but nevertheless an asshole. Not to forget, Brian was weird!

The next day he spent painting to distract himself and he was glad that it was working to keep him on the ball. The daily phone call from Ethan also helped, even though his ears were bleeding from all the talk about music, instruments, and notes.

Only five more days. The time dragged by slowly.

Very slowly.

Three more days and then Ethan would be back.

On the last day, there was a call that went straight to voicemail and it changed everything.

A call which made him break free from his daily routine.

Justin was just contemplating what to do when he heard a noise coming from upstairs. Was it Brian? Could it be? He frowned and opened the door to the stairwell to see what all the commotion was about.

There was somebody hammering his fists against Brian's door and shouting his name a few times but apparently, there was no answer. Good luck for trying to get Brian to open up, he thought. The relentless pounding continued for another two minutes until the person, which was obviously male, gave up and came down the stairs.

Justin was about to close the door in order to avoid a confrontation, but it was too late when the guy saw him.

A black-haired man, with broad lips and chocolate eyes about the same height as himself, stood in front of him now.

"Hey, I'm Michael, Brian's best friend," the other introduced himself and held out his hand, which Justin shook in response. What did he want though?

"Justin," he replied.

"So you're the-! Ah, never mind."

Justin frowned, not knowing what he meant by that.

"Anyway, I was wondering if you've happened to see Brian around? I've been contacting him since forever and that jerk will not reply."

"No, I haven't seen him." He was not in the mood for long prolonged talks.

Michael looked disappointed and pressed his lips together.

"Okay. Thank you anyway. But if you happen to see him tell him if he doesn't call me, I'll beat his ass. See you around, Justin."

The blond blinked a few times.

"Sure." He finally managed to get out. Michael smiled and then he was gone.

What was that?

Why did everyone assume that he and Brian were more than just neighbors?

Taking a shower to cool down, and which helped him to think straight, Justin decided then and there that he needed to go to Babylon tonight.


	8. Epiphany

[ ](https://imgbb.com/)

**Chapter 8**

He was sitting in his car wondering if he should finally make a move to get out and go inside Babylon or if he should drive home again. The loud music from the club was even audible inside his car, as Justin watched the people passing by, ready to party and forget all about their everyday life.

Closing his eyes he took a deep breath and then he left his car and stood in the long line to the entrance.

The line moved faster than he thought and in a short while he was inside Babylon once again.

Justin noticed the appreciative glances that came his way, but avoided eye contact and made his way to the bar in order to get a drink, or two or maybe more.

The only problem was that the bartender seemed to ignore him and every time he tried to get his attention, he was unsuccessful; like he wasn't even there and hadn't already waited for twenty minutes to get a fucking drink.

Justin buried his face in his hands, sighed and just wanted to disappear since it didn't make a difference anyway.

"Are you alright, sweetie?"

A hand touched his shoulder lightly and Justin turned to the voice. The voice belonged to a tall guy with blue eyes, who was wearing some pink leather pants and a pink fishnet top and had glitter all over his face and an assuring smile on his shiny lips.

Behind him stood a guy who seemed to be the complete opposite of the flamboyant queen in front of him. He looked very out of place and more as if he belonged in an office other than in a nightclub, but the beer in his hand made it clear that he was here for the same reason as everyone else.

"Yeah... I'm fine," he finally responded, rubbing his eyes and watching as yet another guy got a drink of their choice and he was still standing there waiting.

This was ridiculous.

The guy followed his line of sight and like some magic trick he got the bartender's attention and got him a beer.

"Thank you," Justin said as he took a gulp from the cold beverage. "But how did you manage that? I tried to get a hold of him for twenty minutes and he just kept ignoring me."

"I have connections," he winked at Justin, smiling wide. "And maybe he ignored you because you look a little young..." the guy said, looking him up and down.

"I'm twenty... not _that_ young."

The tall guy nodded knowingly and gave his friend beside him a look he couldn't interpret.

"Too young for this club and also to be served alcohol."

Justin pressed his lips together and tilted his head down. He always used some fake ID and he never got caught. Until now.

"You look like jailbait," the shorter man said as he took a gulp from his bottle and it felt like he was staring into Justin's soul with his empty eyes. He looked like he was done with life already.

"Oh, don't worry, we won't rat you out! Me and Teddy started way earlier and know how it is," he flashed him a smile, his tooth gap showing. "Besides it would be a pity to get rid of such a cute bubble butt like yours!" Justin blushed and took another gulp. "Just ignore him," he stared at the brunet beside him."Teddy's just a little negative because he got rejected a few times," he explained and bumped his elbow into his friend's side who laughed sarcastically at the last three words. "Anyway I'm Emmett and this is Ted. You seem like you could use some company."

"Justin," he answered and looked around and had to agree that he definitely could use some company, not that it would be hard to find another kind. The kind of stares thrown his way were unmistakable, they all wanted to get into his pants. So he was glad for the distraction, and both Emmett and Ted looked like they were great guys. Especially, Emmett seemed to know how to have some fun if his choice of clothing was any indication.

Without wasting another second Emmett pulled him and Ted to the middle of the dance floor. It took some time for Justin to let himself enjoy the experience but the alcohol helped to loosen his muscles and soon enough he was moving his body in slow rolls to the beat of the music. And Emmett was a great dancer, he moved freely and was dancing unashamedly with his whole body, moving his hands in the air and spinning around wildly while Ted was dancing like he was glued to the spot, barely taking a step to the side and back.

It was funny how he felt like he knew them for years instead of just having met them today. Justin was truly enjoying himself and slowly forgot about the call he had received and what it had meant.

During less favorable songs they chose to stay close to the bar and they were just about to get back to dancing when the guy from earlier today came by and stopped them.

"Have you seen Brian?" Michael asked Emmett, looking like he had run a marathon.

Oh, fuck. It must be just his kind of luck to meet some new people and they were friends with Brian. Shit.

"Just for a second before he made his way to his holy territory," Ted muttered, his eyebrows raised.

"Yeah, honey, he said 'Hi' and then he went on his merry way and we haven't seen him since," Emmett nodded his head in the direction of the backroom. Justin tried to look through the masses even though he knew it was to no avail. He hoped Brian wasn't here.

"He's probably having an orgy back there," Ted suggested.

"But Michael, how long do you plan on running after him?"

"I'm not! I'm worried about him, he's acting even more anti-social than usual, besides, I already checked and he's not in the backroom either."

"So... um..." Justin stammered. "You're all friends with Brian?"

"Yes."

"I wouldn't call it _that_ ," Emmett replied unsurely.

"We're more like his punching bags. If he's angry or frustrated we're the first ones to know and let me tell you it's not a pleasant experience. Some might say it's an honor to get some of God Kinney's attention, even if it's the negative kind, but if you ask me, I'd be glad to not be reminded of being a loser every damn day," Ted rambled and by the end looked more miserable than in the beginning of his monologue.

"They're just exaggerating; Brian's not that bad and I mean, you guys should know that," Michael defended him and gave the other's a glare that could kill.

"He's..." Justin was struggling to come up with the right words, all his brain had to offer were insults, especially the word 'asshole' kept popping up.

Emmett turned to him like he just noticed something very interesting.

"Wait, you know Brian? What a question! But since this is the first time I've seen you in here I thought maybe you were lucky enough to not have met him yet."

These indeed were some interesting friends. It was like Brian was an asshole to all of them as well. Maybe it was his way of showing affection... to them.

"Guys? Have you forgotten that Brian told us about the new couple that moved in?" Michael asked, nodding towards Justin.

"Ah! The outrageous excuse of fags?" Ted answered and regarded Justin. "I mean, these were Brian's words, not mine," he added and hung his head low.

Michael shook his head in disbelief and Justin wondered what else Brian had said about him and Ethan. Probably nothing positive. The jerk.

"Very nice, Teddy," Emmett hit him again and Ted hit back.

"Yeah, we're neighbors and I've met him a few times... nothing special."

"What did he do?" Emmett exclaimed, his hand movement making him spill half of his pink drink.

"Why-" Justin started but was interrupted.

"Oh dear, the big bad wolf already had a go at him..."

"Guys, could you stop? Can't you see that you're making him uncomfortable."

Both of them apologized after Michael stared them down.

The blond plastered on a smile and wondered if it had been a good idea to come here, to begin with.

"No, it's fine... but nothing happened. We're just neighbors."

Michael looked like he knew he was lying and the other two nodded trying to hide the fact they were suspicious as well. _Great._

"Since Brian isn't here, how about some more drinks?" Emmett suggested, his eyebrows raised and Michael shrugged in response. He didn't seem too happy about it but not completely against it either and Justin was glad to have the attention away from himself.

With some more drinks in his system, the pleasant feeling of peace came over him once again and he was buzzing with the numbness of the alcohol in his bloodstream.

He got to learn some more about the three. Ted was an accountant, something he definitely looked like, whereas Emmett was hopping from one job to another. Then there was Michael who owned a comic store down on Liberty Avenue, who seemed to talk about his favorite hero for hours. Someone named Captain... he already forgot what the name was.

All in all, it was a nice evening spent dancing and drinking and making new friends; unfortunately, they were apparently all friends of Brian's, but he was doing his best to block out that fact.

But all good things come to an end. That's how he found himself hugging the guys goodbye and staggered to his car parked outside of Babylon. Standing in front of it, he quickly realized that he was in no condition to drive by himself unless he wanted to crash against a wall. He was fumbling in his pocket trying to get his phone out so he could call Ethan to pick him up when he realized Ethan wasn't even home and... there was this other reason he didn't want to call him even if he were there.

Sighing, Justin made the decision to walk back to his apartment. Sure, he could have called a taxi and he definitely would have if it wasn't for the fact that he spent all his money on drinks.

He watched the ground with drunken fascination as he took step after step, dragging his feet along the sidewalk and wishing he was there already...

Suddenly he heard a sound right behind him and he turned around quickly, managing to not fall over. But there was no-one. Maybe it was his paranoia, or maybe there was something; he shouldn't have forgotten no matter how drunk he was.

_Fuck._

He quickened his pace and hoped today was not his unlucky day but the steps behind him told him a different story. Justin knew there was no way to outrun the person if the person was the same one from last time, so he quickly changed his way and was relieved to make out a couple of guys at the end of the street; the light from the lamppost outlining their bodies.

Rushing down the street, his pulse pounding in his ears, he quickly noticed something familiar about one of the guys. Wait, this was... the brown hair, the big hands, his profile... _Brian?_ It was him!

Justin came to a stop a few feet before the pair, watching as Brian pressed the trick further against the wall. The guy leaned his head back, bore his neck and Brian held him in a tight grip, both of his hands on his shoulders as he leaned down and his tongue darted out to the guy's neck and then... what?... Justin rubbed his eyes in disbelief. Were those fangs? His blue eyes widened and he ran a shaking hand through his blond hair. Did someone put something in his drink? This couldn't be. This was not real. Swallowing, he took a few careful steps back, trying his hardest to be as quiet as possible and to not make any sound, as he didn't want to gather any attention.

He felt the sweat trickling to his forehead as he took yet another step back and watched the trick slowly lose consciousness as his arms slid down Brian's back and fell to his sides, hanging there lifeless.

Justin bit his teeth together. Every breath more effort than the one before as he tried to suppress the need to inhale a harsh breath.

What followed was a loud crinkling sound as he stepped on an empty soda can. His lips began to tremble and he stared at the ground in shock, not daring to look up, but the unmistakable sound of quiet made it clear he had missed the beat.

His heart pounding he lifted his head and his eyes met the glowing hazel inferno of Brian's eyes, his mouth a mess of blood, driblets running down his chin and neck. Justin dared to look at the body on the ground, unsure if the guy was still alive or dead with his skin as pale as a white sheet and the blood running down his neck.

He had to be dreaming.

"Justin," Brian spoke and Justin flinched as he heard the other's voice.

The brunet walked closer to him, his posture straight, intimidating and Justin took another involuntary step back.

"Listen, Justin, let me explain," Brian came closer and didn't stop until he stood in front of him.

"Justin? Now you use my name?" Justin asked his voice trembling. He was astonished to even be able to utter a word, let alone a sentence.

Brian raised his hand in order to wipe away the blood but all he did was cover his hand and smear it across the right side of his jaw.

His fangs were gone and the dangerous glow to his eyes fading.

"Did you kill him?" Justin confronted him and regarded him warily. His body filled with tension.

"No."

"Would you have if I didn't interrupt you?"

"No," the answer came back sharp.

"Have you killed..." Justin thought about how to ask the question when Brian replied.

"Yes. Many," his gaze was penetrating and Justin looked away. "But there's more to it."

"Then answer me one more thing," he pressed his lips together. "Did you attack me?"

Brian arched an eyebrow, and a huff left his blood-smeared lips.

"Sure, first, I attacked and then came to rescue you, all the while having to worry about not ending up as fucking dirt in the process. What do you think? Does this sound logical to you?" Brian mocked.

"It sounds like the perfect plan to gain my trust."

"Sorry to disappoint you but it wasn't fucking me. I know you think I'm trying to get into your pants but I would never use these kinds of methods, besides the fact, that they are utter and complete bullshit."

Justin frowned and saw the honesty in Brian's eyes and he was unsure if it was the actual truth or just a trick, but whatever it was made it easier for Justin to breathe and he was able to relax a little.

"So it really wasn't you?" His voice sounded small, even to his own ears.

"No. But I have some idea of whom." Brian darted a look around and then back to Justin. "But let's not talk about this here."

He then took Justin's hand into his, the wet, warm feeling of blood against his palms, dragging him along but Justin stopped him.

"Wait. What about the guy?"

He couldn't believe Brian would leave him like that. How could he?

"What about him?"

Justin's outraged face must have been enough since Brian rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"He will be fine and not remember a fucking thing."

"Aren't you worried that he will suspect something, regardless?"

"No, and now enough with the questions or I'll have to move you along myself."

One last glance back, and then Justin went with him and hoped to God it wasn't the wrong decision.


	9. The Talk

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**Chapter 9**

Justin stood in the doorway, watching Brian move around the loft.

"Are you planning to stand there all night, or are you coming in?"

The door felt like a safe place as he could run for his life at any given time, but he knew if he wanted answers, he needed to stay. So he swallowed the lump in his throat and closed the door behind him which shut him in from the outside world.

Now he was alone with Brian which was never a good sign since they had met but after tonight's revelation, it seemed like an even worse idea.

Brian watched him with an intense stare which made his cheeks flush pink.

"Want some water?"

He'd rather have some more alcohol but his throat felt dry so water it was.

"Yeah."

Taking a bottle of water out of the fridge Brian held it out towards him, indicating for him to come to get it.

"You have to come here if you want it," Brian mused, clearly aware of the innuendo. His mouth curled upwards.

Taking a deep breath, Justin moved away from the door, his head hung low as he walked towards the other, stumbling over nothing, barely catching himself.

_Get a grip, Justin!_

He took the offered bottle and took a big swig from it.

"Let's move this to the couch."

Justin nodded and followed him to the couch while he clutched the water bottle to his body. It was quite hard to control the beating of his heart and the shaking of his hands.

He waited as Brian sat on the couch, making sure he sat on the opposite end. He needed all the space he could get.

Brian's legs were spread wide, his arms on the backrest as he sat comfortably, while continually looking at him. Justin was trying to get comfortable while pressed against the other armrest.

"Are you scared?" Brian asked, one eyebrow arched.

The blond bit his lip, squeezing the bottle before he put it on the table.

"No."

"Are you lying?"

"Yes."

Brian laughed and leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, then rested his chin on one of his hands, while stroking his bottom lip with his thumb. Amusement clearly on his face.

"Why did you answer 'No' then?"

"Because you're asking dumb questions! Of course, I'm scared! How would you feel if you saw your neighbor suck another guy dry of his blood?!" Justin replied annoyed, his eyebrows drawn together.

"Hmm... I guess that's fair, maybe I was hoping you would be more into it," Brian licked his lips. "What were you doing there anyway?"

"What does it matter?"

In an instant Brian was next to him, their legs pressed together. The heat was unbearable.

"It matters a great deal since I've told you not to go into dark alleys and yet, that's exactly what you did."

"Well, you can't tell me what to do."

Brian put a finger under Justin's chin sliding it down his throat. Justin kept perfectly still, not knowing what to expect.

"You're right, I can't. But think of it this way, if you hadn't crossed my path you could have been dead."

Swallowing hard, Justin pressed his lips together tightly when Brian pushed his nail into the sensitive skin, puncturing it ever so slightly.

"And I'm sure you've noticed the one following you, always one step behind you," he removed his finger, staring into Justin's wide eyes. "If he wanted to kill you, I don't doubt he would have and there would have been nothing I could have done to prevent it."

His voice was serious and his gaze stern. Justin gritted his teeth, knowing that everything could have ended tonight.

"I thought you were safe since you kept following my advice during the first few weeks."

_What?_

"Did you follow me around?"

"I had to, it was not safe and it still isn't."

Justin rubbed his eyes in exasperation. This all felt like some sort of nightmare. It felt unreal. But he wanted to start from the beginning.

"So... you're a vampire?" The answer was clear, but he still wanted the confirmation. Everything seemed surreal.

"Yes. That's what people call it."

He buried his face in his hands, shaking his head in disbelief.

"How... I mean, I can't fucking believe this! Since when are vampires a reality?"

"Neither could I when I woke up like this. But in a very fucked up way, it made my wish come true. I will always stay young and beautiful. No matter what," he mused, yet Justin could hear some regret in his voice even though he tried to hide it.

"So how long have you been..." Justin tried to think of the right words, staring at Brian whose eyes never left his. "Like this..."

"Three years. But before you ask me how I ended up like this, I don't know. All I can say is that it probably happened in some dark-ass alley - the same ones I've warned you about," Brian bit the corner of his lip, smirking, reminding Justin yet again of his own bad decision.

For some reason, the more they talked the less scared he was and curiosity was taking over instead. Turning his body towards Brian, he stared at his mouth. At the pinkish blur of the remaining blood.

"Can I see them?"

His eyebrows almost met his hairline when he regarded Justin.

"See what?"

"Your teeth, you know the fangs."

Sighing, Brian faced him.

"You've recovered quite quickly from your shock and I'm not some circus attraction for you to ogle..."

"Please," Justin placed a hand on Brian's knee but quickly pulled it back as soon as he realized what he had done.

He didn't know why suddenly all of his fears just flew out of the window but for some reason, he wanted to know so much more about Brian, not caring if it could be possibly dangerous. Maybe anyone else in his situation would try and keep their distance, but Justin was an idiot. Brian admitted he had killed people before for god's sake! And still, even with that knowledge in the back of his mind and the fact that he could have been one of those people, he was feeling excited about the unknown.

Brian eyed him warily before he opened his mouth and Justin saw his perfect set of white teeth beside the one crooked one in the front. At first, there was nothing happening and he felt a little awkward to be sitting there and staring at the other's mouth, but then a new pair of sharp teeth protruded out of his pink gum and grew over his canines. Vampire fangs.

_Fuck! It had not been a fucking dream! It was real! This was it!_

Automatically, his hand shot up and he touched one of the fangs with the tip of his finger, completely overlooking the intense stare thrown his way. It happened in a flash, Brian pinned him to the couch, both of his hands held in one of his strong hands, his body pressing him into the leather, and then Justin noticed the evident change in Brian's eyes. The amber in his hazel eyes magnified, a dangerous glint for the sheer hunger and the urgent need for blood. His breathing changed to quick gasps as he tried to contemplate what the reason for the sudden change in Brian's behavior was.

"Don't tempt me," Brian spoke in a deep rumbling voice and Justin noticed the tip of the fang tinted red. Blood. He must have accidentally cut his finger on those razor-sharp teeth. "I have plenty of self-control but if you provoke me, I promise I won't hold back."

He opened his mouth as if to say something but no words passed his lips as he gazed at Brian. Therefore he shook his head in response, trying to convey that he didn't want to provoke him.

The unwavering gaze continued with what felt like ages until Brian let go of him and he was able to sit up and adjust his clothes which had ridden up during Brian's "attack".

Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw the blood on his pointer finger about to drip on the Prestige couch.

In an instant, Brian took a hold of his hand, bringing his finger to his mouth. His blues eyes followed the pink tongue lapping up his blood, caressing it, before it disappeared into that hot mouth, the feeling of wet, soft heat surrounding it. His thoughts immediately went to where else he wanted to feel that mouth, those lips, and teeth. He watched in fascination as Brian's long eyelashes fluttered against his cheeks; the look of satisfaction spread across his face, making Justin's case of his tight pants even worse. The quiet moan that escaped his lips when the edge of those teeth grazed the sensitive skin of his finger caused Brian to pull away.

There was blood on the corner of his mouth.

"You're making it hard for me."

 _There's something else hard_ , Justin thought as he eyeballed the brunet.

Brian stared at him and a smirk appeared on his lush lips.

"That's not what I meant," he chuckled, his eyes on the obvious outline of Justin's hard-on. The blond's face flushed from embarrassment and he crossed his legs in order to hide his erection even though Brian had already seen it.

"Fuck. Can you read my mind as well?" Justin sputtered.

Brian then took his face between his hands, coming closer and closer and Justin was sure that his heart would give out any minute when he felt his breath against his skin. He stared deeply into the other's eyes and Brian looked serious. He was so close and Justin was sure Brian would kiss him! But then he broke out into laughter and slumped over on the couch.

Justin's cheeks turned redder than they already were, if that was even possible.

"I don't have to read your mind to know what you're thinking. Your body and your facial expressions tell me enough," Brian arched a brow and stood up.

Justin watched him walk to the bedroom and go off to the left, a minute later he came back and sat back beside him, a band-aid in his hand.

"Give me your hand," he commanded and Justin placed it in his and silently watched Brian wrap the bandaid around his finger. When he was done, he kept on holding Justin's hand.

"I know you're trying to avoid talking about it and would love for me to do some other things with my mouth instead," Brian announced, licking his lips to prove his point and Justin quickly looked away when he caught himself staring. "But there's someone on the hunt for you, so why don't you start by telling me why you were so reckless. I mean, you were fucking attacked before, Justin. Any other person would make sure to avoid the chance of it happening again. Then there's you... who seems to not give a shit about his own safety and just wanders into the night, drunk, I might add, without a worry in the world. That's just plain stupid."

The mood shifted considerably as Brian went on a rant.

"So what the fuck was your blond boy ass doing out alone in the first place? I remember a jealous boyfriend," he looked sick at mentioning the word 'boyfriend' "who wouldn't let you out of his line of vision for even a second without going all batshit crazy."

"Would you just stop already?!" Justin exploded and tore his hand from Brian's grip. "He's not fucking here, he's away! And I know how stupid it was, it was fucking dumb, okay? I get it... but I was drunk and angry and had no money left for a taxi; so I was like, what could possibly fucking happen? I wasn't thinking about that night... because all this time, these past few weeks, I've tried to block it out, tried to pretend that it didn't happen! That's why I just went for it. And now there's you and this vampire thing..." Justin pressed his lips together to a tight line. He turned his head towards Brian who stared at him with an unreadable expression.

"So you tell me, who's after me? And why? What does he fucking want from me?"

One of his hands ran through his brown hair, the other curling to a fist as he sat up straight, sighing.

"At first I wasn't sure who might have attacked you as there's not just me, there are plenty of others like me living here in the Pitts..." He started, having Justin's full attention. "But today I got a glimpse and my suspicions of who it could have been were confirmed. I knew if there hadn't been a motive behind it, your wound would have been worse or in the rare case, you could have ended up killed. But I knew someone marked you and wanted me to see it. That's the other reason why I wanted you to stay away from me, besides the one that I'm a sucker for blood, _your_ blood."

The blond nodded his head... listening but not quite understanding why someone would... Wait!

"He's after _you_ , isn't he?"

Hazel eyes stared at the coffee table in front of them and then met his.

"Yes. I know him. His name is Kip Thomas and it might be my fault he's in such a bad mood."

 _His fault?_ Justin was confused as he contemplated the other's words.

"We worked together. One night he came over and we fucked... but he was in for a big surprise since I had barely eaten that week and he ended up being my living blood bag. But I didn't stop there, I turned him into one of my kind and threw his unconscious body in some alley."

"You did what?!" Justin couldn't believe what Brian had just said. _How could he?_

"Before you judge me, you have to know that he was an asshole and he fucking deserved it. He wanted a promotion and when he didn't get it, because he was not fucking ready, he wanted me to lose my job by telling lies and thinking he was better than me, so I paid him back."

"Don't you think you were a little harsh?"

Brian acted like he was considering the fact but then he answered: "No. Besides, I'm able to control myself now, back then it was a different story. Even so, that fucking piece of shit deserved it nonetheless. It's not like I killed him, I just turned him."

He rubbed a hand over his face, not knowing what to do with the newfound information.

"But what does this all have to do with me?"

"He must have seen us together in Babylon. Because that's the same night he attacked you."

"And? I'm sure there are plenty of other guys, so what makes me different?"

"What do I know?" He answered cooly, his stare icy and distant.

_Did he say something wrong?_

"You should go now."

"Brian..."

"Go. I'm sure your boyfriend wouldn't appreciate you staying with me."

He blinked a few times, and then nodded his head as he stood up abruptly.

"Sure. You're absolutely right," he responded sarcastically. "He wouldn't."

Fuck this asshole. He went for the door, something inside of him hoping Brian would stop him but disappointment awaited him.

"Justin."

He turned around to the other's voice, feeling embarrassed about his subconscious wanting Brian to make him stay.

"Avoid the alleys and I'll worry about the rest."

Justin frowned but agreed to it before he slid the door open and went down the flight of stairs to his apartment.

He couldn't make any sense of Brian. Sometimes he was all serious and down to business and then he's flirting with him relentlessly and a second later he treats him not any better than the dirt on his shoes.

And to round it all up, he's a fucking vampire.

Scratching the back of his head, he marched into his bedroom, trying to ignore the absence of his boyfriend as he thought about his day, or better to say this night and what it had meant.


	10. Decisions

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**Chapter 10**

Justin glimpsed at his painting, pressing his lips together and leaning back in order to get the full picture. Was it just him, or did it turn out to look like shit?

He thought back when he had started the painting and was excited and motivated to create something new. And now there was this depressing piece of abstract art that brought across all his mixed feelings of the past few weeks with its dark blue colors and the flash of yellow, representing a little bit of hope.

Rubbing his tired eyes, he stood up and dragged himself to the bathroom for some aspirin against his chronic daily headache.

He heard the apartment door open as he swallowed the pills, hoping they would finally relieve his misery. Well, the pounding one in his head.

"My angel, I’m home!" He heard Ethan call out. Hearing that, he really wanted to puke into the toilet.

Walking into the living room, he watched Ethan put down his patched-up bags and hang up his scarlet scarf.

He had the option to call Ethan out on his bullshit or the option to act as if nothing had happened and pretending he was unaware of anything. He was sure the old Justin would have done just that - but this was the new him, someone who spoke his mind. When he was honest with himself, there were a lot of tell-tale signs showing just how much it didn’t work out between them. For one thing, he felt like Ethan was too controlling and didn’t have much trust in him, always thinking Justin was cheating on him. And secondly, there was Brian. Brian who’s weird but all his actions make sense now, except for the ones where he tried to come on to him. Justin didn’t know how it had happened, but he was feeling something for Brian and it just got stronger over the weeks… though he wouldn’t call it love. Yet. He didn’t know exactly what it was, but it was enough for Brian to be constantly on his mind.

Maybe he just needed to get him out of his system and be done with it. But that seemed more complicated than he thought, since Brian apparently was determined to stay away from him and was focused on protecting him from everything evil, himself included.

He cleared his throat in order to make Ethan aware of his presence.

Brown eyes stared back at him with joy which slowly dissipated when he saw the strained expression on Justin’s face.

Even so, Ethan blinked a few times before putting his happy face back on, then walked over to him, pulling him into a fierce hug. A hug he didn’t reciprocate.

Ethan didn’t seem to care about his lack of response, instead, he tried to kiss him. Justin put a hand on his chest, gently pushing him away, raw emotions displayed on his face. Ethan’s smile vanished.

"What’s up? I’ve missed you…"

Justin pressed his lips together, nodding his head in false pretense.

"Right," he answered sarcastically, drawing out the word.

"Hey, I really meant that! I couldn’t wait to come back here to see my muse."

"Oh, really? Didn’t have fun while you were away?" He couldn’t seem to keep the sneer from his voice.

Ethan came a few steps closer, he took some steps back.

Breathing out, his eyes wandered to the couch before looking back at Ethan.

"We need to talk."

"Okay…" Ethan pulled off his jacket, letting it drop to the floor, his face showing a thousand different emotions.

Justin walked to the couch and plopped down, waiting for Ethan to do the same.

He stared straight ahead, even after Ethan finally came and sat next to him.

"So…" Ethan’s voice was unsure and Justin felt his eyes on him.

"So, I can’t do this anymore."

Ethan turned towards him, adjusting his position, propping one leg on the couch, resting it under his other thigh. Justin looked at him, taking in the confused expression on his boyfriend’s face, before staring ahead again.

"What do you mean?"

Closing his eyes, Justin wondered if Ethan was ignorant or was being deliberately obtuse in order to buy some time - for whatever reason.

"I mean, I want to break up. And before you ask the reason why, it’s that we’ve grown apart and are mainly still together only because it’s convenient. I just don’t want to live this way anymore. I’m not okay with the way things have developed and I’m not going to stay with you just because I don’t know anything else - other than being with you. You meant, no, you still mean a lot to me and I love you, but not the way I did back then - I’m not _in_ love with you. And I know for certain that you must feel the same way. So, why don’t we just end it here?" He explained calmly, finally looking back at Ethan.

Ethan’s eyebrows pulled together, and his dark brown eyes regarded him like he was trying to figure out if he was serious.

Justin was dead serious.

"Is this because of that guy? Because of that Brian guy? You can’t be serious, Justin?! You want to throw this away - you want to throw _us_ away - for that asshole? I bring you flowers and everything and you…"

Justin could not believe what he was hearing! Was he fucking serious? Has Ethan even listened to a word he said? It seemed like Ethan was trying to put all the blame on him for this relationship not working out.

His fists curled at his sides; he stood up and looked down at the other man angrily. He wanted this conversation to be calm and understanding but now it was impossible to contain himself.

"Look who’s talking! Yeah, maybe Brian is one of the reasons why I want to break up with you, but he’s not the only reason! There are _plenty_! For one, you’re selfish and never want to help clean, cook or whatever, because all you care about is yourself. Also, you want me to believe that you giving me roses every other day, is supposed to be love? It’s fucking _not_! And on top of it, you’re a fucking hypocrite, accusing me of cheating when you have been cheating on me, all along!" He shouted in his face, jabbing a finger in his chest.

"I haven’t cheated on you," Ethan countered instantly, brushing his hair back.

Justin turned away chuckling before turning to face him; a very serious expression on his face.

"Right, you haven’t. Maybe... _maybe,_ I would have believed you, if I hadn’t gotten a fucking voice mail from your lover telling me every detail of your affair - that apparently, has been going on for months. Lucky me, he was jealous or I would still believe your lies. So, all these times where you were away for some audition or whatever, it’s safe to assume you were just meeting up with him behind my back. Now, are you still going to tell me, you haven’t cheated?"

Ethan swallowed audibly, clearly taken aback by the things Justin said and probably knowing he screwed up and won’t be able to fix it with a bouquet of flowers. Justin really didn’t plan on being that harsh to him, but he didn’t feel sorry either. Somehow it felt good to let some steam off, to speak the truth and end things that he should have ended sooner.

"I swear, he was nothing, you know you’re the only one I love…" Ethan stood up and pleaded, his eyes starting to tear up.

Sure it was hard to let go… He’s dated him almost two years now… went through good times and harsh times but he had to think of himself, for once. This was self-preservation.

"No matter what you say, I’ve made my decision. You can stay here for the night, but I want you to pack your things by tomorrow and leave." Pressing his lips together, he tried not to flinch at the hurt expression, denying the feeling and need to comfort him even though he was still angry, knowing in his heart that would just leave Ethan believing there was still hope. So, after contemplating it for a second, he turned around and left Ethan standing there.

He brought him a pillow and sheets in order for him to sleep on the couch but other than that, he spent the rest of the evening in his bedroom. It hurt, but he also felt relieved, taking a load off his mind.

-

The next morning, Justin decided to get out of the house early to give Ethan time to pack his stuff. Not that there was a lot to pack.

He stopped by the gallery, went to the Liberty Diner for lunch, took a walk in the park and then he bought some much-needed groceries for the week.

So, when he came home, he was happy Ethan had listened to him, and had already packed his few belongings and left the apartment.

Sighing, he placed the groceries on the counter, doubts filling his thoughts, which he soon banned from his head.

It was definitely the right decision.

-

The following week, Justin spent painting. Apparently, he was tremendously inspired by his break up and his mind was full of ideas to fill the vast canvases.

When he paused to study his portrait, he realized he had Brian’s seductive hazel eyes staring back at him…

It was time to stop avoiding the subject of his interest. He’d ignored the need to bang on Brian’s door ever since he had broken up with Ethan. He was feeling like a hypocrite himself though, all the time he had spent rejecting Brian, telling him he didn’t want him, even though Brian had made his interest obvious.

He really wanted to see him though.

So that’s how he ended up in front of the familiar metal door, knocking.

No answer.

But he was determined and knocked again only to end up with the same result.

"Brian? Are you in there? Please open the door?!" He shouted, hoping Brian would change his mind and let him in. Sure, Brian could be out right now but it was afternoon… he had to be at home and was ignoring him.

He leaned his forehead against the cool steel. It was ridiculous how he hoped the longer he stood out here and waited, that Brian would suddenly change his mind and magically appear, opening the door for him.

After another whole minute of silence, he decided to go back down and continue working on his art… maybe next time.

And this is how he ended up knocking on Brian’s door the next six days without ever getting a response. He had seen Lisa a few times, though, but she hadn’t seen Brian either and reminded him that this was normal… Well, maybe normal for her since she didn’t know that Brian was a vampire.

On the seventh day, Justin decided to stop with his knocking-routine. It wasn’t doing him any good to go up there every single day, knock on that ugly door, spend more time staring at the door and in the end, walk back to his apartment.

He was walking along Liberty Avenue, as he had decided to get some lemon squares from the Liberty Diner, when he saw Michael going in.

Quickly, he dashed into the busy street, ignoring the shouts and honks from angry drivers as he carelessly ran across the street.

The familiar sound of the bell announced his entrance, while he looked around the diner, spotting Michael sitting at the counter talking with Debbie.

He quickly made his way over there and sat beside him, two heads turning towards him.

"Oh hey, Justin."

"Sunshine!"

Both of them looked questionably at each other.

"You know, Sunshine?"

"Yeah, I met him at Brian’s place some time ago… why?"

"At Brian’s place?!" The redhead stared at Justin in shock, like she just heard the worst news possible. "I hope the asshole hasn’t gotten his hands on you, otherwise, I’ll cut off his balls. And why... you ask me?” Turning to look back at Michael, she said, “Do you remember the kid I’ve always told you about with the bubble butt and the sunshiney-smile; well, here he is." She announced as she pointed her thumb at Justin.

"Ohhh…." Michael replied, his scrunched-up face easing up.

"So, you’re the wonder kid, she’s rambling on about. I’ve had to listen to her talk about you for nearly three years now. She likes to compare me to you, telling me that I could have been as bright as you are, and stuff like that," he explains in mock-offense, while rolling his eyes.

Justin laughed at that.

"Then you must be the son she’s always worried about." He countered, leaving out the parts where Debbie complained about her son.

"I wonder why you two haven’t met before in the Diner… well. Can I get you anything, Sunshine?"

"Just some lemon squares, please."

Justin talked with Michael for a while regarding all the stories they’ve heard about each other and about the reason that Debbie seemed to dislike Brian (which she apparently didn’t) and he had a great time. So much of a great time, that he almost forgot why he rushed in here in the first place.

Michael was taking his leave, when Justin remembered to ask him about Brian.

"Michael, wait a second," he called, and Michael turned back around. Justin walked over to him.

"Have you heard from Brian… the last week, or so?"

"I’ve talked with him on the phone."

"I see," Justin said disappointedly, but Michael took pity on him.

"I’m actually meeting up with the gang tonight at 8 pm at Woody’s and after that, we’ll head over to Babylon. I can’t promise that he’ll be there, but there’s a good chance he’ll be at Babylon. You can join us if you like, Ted and Emmett will be there; do you still remember them from last time?"

Justin’s eyes lit up and he smiled widely.

"Of course, I remember them! How can one forget those two?" He laughed. "I’ll be there. Thank you, Michael."

He was about to turn around to get his lemon squares when Michael stopped him in his tracks, a hand on his shoulder.

There was some kind of worry in his eyes.

"Don’t expect too much from, Brian," and Justin had to blink a few times because that came out of nowhere and he didn’t know how to react, let alone how to respond to this advice. So he did the only thing he was able to, and nodded.

After Michael had left, he had to sit through another lecture from Debbie, telling him all about Brian, and advising him to stay away from him if he knew what was best for him.

Justin knew she meant well, but he also knew Brian wasn’t half as bad as she was telling him.

Instead, he hoped to meet him tonight.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are love.


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